{"slug": "pacific-ocean", "label": "Pacific Ocean", "wikipedia": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Ocean", "wikidata": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q98", "qid": "Q98", "description": "ocean between Asia, Australia and the Americas", "entries": 39, "years": 38, "span": [-677, 2025], "span_label": ["678 BCE", "2025 CE"], "topics": [{"title": "Exploration & Expansion", "count": 24}, {"title": "Science & Discovery", "count": 4}, {"title": "Climate & Environment", "count": 4}, {"title": "Conflict & Security", "count": 3}, {"title": "Technology & Infrastructure", "count": 2}, {"title": "Geopolitics & Diplomacy", "count": 1}, {"title": "Disasters & Accidents", "count": 1}], "also_known_as": ["North Pacific", "Pacific", "South Pacific", "South Pacific Ocean"], "related": [{"slug": "japan", "label": "Japan", "shared": 3}, {"slug": "tokyo", "label": "Tokyo", "shared": 3}, {"slug": "james-cook", "label": "James Cook", "shared": 3}, {"slug": "china", "label": "China", "shared": 2}, {"slug": "mexico", "label": "Mexico", "shared": 2}, {"slug": "strait-of-magellan", "label": "Strait of Magellan", "shared": 2}, {"slug": "los-angeles", "label": "Los Angeles", "shared": 2}, {"slug": "plymouth", "label": "Plymouth", "shared": 2}, {"slug": "fiji", "label": "Fiji", "shared": 2}, {"slug": "ming-dynasty", "label": "Ming dynasty", "shared": 1}, {"slug": "philippines", "label": "Philippines", "shared": 1}, {"slug": "spanish-empire", "label": "Spanish Empire", "shared": 1}], "items": [{"year": -677, "year_label": "678 BCE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": "November", "text": "Two solar eclipses occur on the 1st and the 30th over the Penzhina Bay and the South Pacific Ocean respectively.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1370510290#November", "title": "678 BC", "revid": 1370510290, "section": "Events › November"}}, {"year": 588, "year_label": "588 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": null, "text": "Emperor Wéndi of the Sui dynasty prepares a campaign against the Chen dynasty. He amasses 518,000 troops along the northern bank of the Yangtze River, stretching from Sichuan to the Pacific Ocean.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1364753170#Asia", "title": "588", "revid": 1364753170, "section": "Events › By place › Asia"}}, {"year": 950, "year_label": "950 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": null, "text": "The Tu'i Tonga Empire starts to expand in the Pacific Ocean. The Tu'i Tonga kings establish the capital at Mu'a on the island of Tongatapu (approximate date).", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1365260811#Oceania", "title": "950", "revid": 1365260811, "section": "Events › By place › Oceania"}}, {"year": 1513, "year_label": "1513 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": "September 25", "text": "September 25 – Vasco Núñez de Balboa first sees what will become known as the Pacific Ocean from the Isthimus of Darién. This moment is later referenced in a poem by John Keats called \"On First Looking into Chapman's Homer\" with the line \"silent upon a peak in Darién\" although he mistakenly references Hernán Cortés as the one who saw the Pacific from Darién.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1363949569#July–September", "title": "1513", "revid": 1363949569, "section": "Events › July–September"}}, {"year": 1520, "year_label": "1520 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": "November 28", "text": "November 28 – After navigating through the strait at the southern end of South America, three ships under the command of Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan reach the Pacific Ocean. Magellan thankful to find a peaceful sea after the dangerous trip through the strait, names the body of water \"El Mar Pacifico\" because of its pacifying waters. becoming the first Europeans to sail from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific (the strait is later named the Strait of Magellan).", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1367307705#October–December", "title": "1520", "revid": 1367307705, "section": "Events › October–December"}}, {"year": 1524, "year_label": "1524 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": "January 17", "text": "January 17 – Florentine explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano, on board La Dauphine in the service of Francis I of France, sets out from Madeira for the New World, to seek out a western sea route to the Pacific Ocean.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1368819061#January–March", "title": "1524", "revid": 1368819061, "section": "Events › January–March"}}, {"year": 1527, "year_label": "1527 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": "October 31", "text": "October 31 – Spanish conquistador Álvaro de Saavedra Cerón departs from Zihuatanejo in what is now Mexico on a voyage of exploration of the Pacific Ocean, along with three ships, Saavedra's flagship La Florida, and the vessels Espiritu Santo and Santiago.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1366980186#October–December", "title": "1527", "revid": 1366980186, "section": "Events › October–December"}}, {"year": 1533, "year_label": "1533 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": "December 21", "text": "December 21 (Feast of St Thomas the Apostle) – Hernando de Grijalva and his crew become the first persons discover the uninhabited Revillagigedo Islands, off the Pacific coast of Mexico, reporting the finding of what Grijalva names Isla Santo Tomé, probably Socorro Island.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1359627731#October–December", "title": "1533", "revid": 1359627731, "section": "Events › October–December"}}, {"year": 1574, "year_label": "1574 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": "November 22", "text": "November 22 – The Juan Fernández Islands in the South Pacific Ocean are discovered by Spanish sailor Juan Fernández.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1368294863#October–December", "title": "1574", "revid": 1368294863, "section": "Events › October–December"}}, {"year": 1578, "year_label": "1578 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": "September 6", "text": "September 6 – After 16 days travel, the fleet of Francis Drake completes its traverse of the Strait of Magellan between the tip of South America and Tierra del Fuego. Upon entering the Pacific Ocean, the fleet encounters violent storms. The supply ship Marigold, with over 100 men under the command of John Thomas, is lost with all hands off of Cape Horn. The rest of the fleet continues its voyage around the world.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1356931160#July–September", "title": "1578", "revid": 1356931160, "section": "Events › July–September"}}, {"year": 1597, "year_label": "1597 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": null, "text": "12 million pesos of silver cross the Pacific. Although it is unknown just how much silver flowed from the Spanish base of Manila in the Philippines to the Ming Dynasty of China, it is known that the main port for the Mexican silver trade—Acapulco—shipped out 150,000 to 345,000 kg (4 to 9 million taels) of silver annually from this year to 1602.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1362801855#Date_unknown", "title": "1597", "revid": 1362801855, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1700, "year_label": "1700 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": "February 27", "text": "27 February – The island of New Britain is discovered by William Dampier in the western Pacific.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1353737826#Events", "title": "1700 in England", "revid": 1353737826, "section": "Events"}}, {"year": 1702, "year_label": "1702 CE", "section": "Science & Discovery", "date": "January 2", "text": "January 2 – A total solar eclipse is visible from the southern Pacific Ocean.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1362986314#January–March", "title": "1702", "revid": 1362986314, "section": "Events › January–March"}}, {"year": 1725, "year_label": "1725 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": null, "text": "Peter the Great sends Vitus Bering to explore the North Pacific.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1349952946#Events", "title": "1725 in Canada", "revid": 1349952946, "section": "Events"}}, {"year": 1742, "year_label": "1742 CE", "section": "Science & Discovery", "date": null, "text": "First scientific report on the North Pacific fur seal.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1349953496#Events", "title": "1742 in Canada", "revid": 1349953496, "section": "Events"}}, {"year": 1767, "year_label": "1767 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": "June 17", "text": "June 17 – British Royal Navy Captain Samuel Wallis becomes the first European to visit the island of Tahiti in the Pacific Ocean, during HMS Dolphins second circumnavigation; he also sights Mehetia.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1365587024#April–June", "title": "1767", "revid": 1365587024, "section": "Events › April–June"}}, {"year": 1772, "year_label": "1772 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": "July 13", "text": "13 July – navigator James Cook sets out from Plymouth on HMS Resolution for a second Pacific voyage.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1275835037#Events", "title": "1772 in Great Britain", "revid": 1275835037, "section": "Events"}}, {"year": 1775, "year_label": "1775 CE", "section": "Climate & Environment", "date": null, "text": "Typhoon Liengkieki devastates the Pacific atoll of Pingelap.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1365589248#Date_unknown", "title": "1775", "revid": 1365589248, "section": "Events › Date unknown"}}, {"year": 1776, "year_label": "1776 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": "July 12", "text": "12 July – Captain James Cook sets off from Plymouth in HMS Resolution on his third voyage, to the Pacific Ocean and Arctic, which will be fatal to him.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1365774368#Events", "title": "1776 in Great Britain", "revid": 1365774368, "section": "Events"}}, {"year": 1778, "year_label": "1778 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": "January 18", "text": "18 January – the third Pacific expedition of James Cook, with ships HMS Resolution and HMS Discovery, first views Oahu then Kauai in the Hawaiian Islands, which he names the \"Sandwich Islands\".", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1361912006#Events", "title": "1778 in Great Britain", "revid": 1361912006, "section": "Events"}}, {"year": 1789, "year_label": "1789 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": null, "text": "1789–93 – Alexander Mackenzie of Canada, seeking northern river route to the Pacific, travels to the Arctic Ocean; on second journey he crosses continent by land, making contact with many tribes.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1349955248#Events", "title": "1789 in Canada", "revid": 1349955248, "section": "Events"}}, {"year": 1793, "year_label": "1793 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": "July 20", "text": "20 July – Stornoway-born explorer Alexander Mackenzie's 1792–1793 Peace River expedition to the Pacific Ocean reaches its goal at Bella Coola, British Columbia, making him the first known person to complete a transcontinental crossing of northern North America.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1362254262#Events", "title": "1793 in Scotland", "revid": 1362254262, "section": "Events"}}, {"year": 1811, "year_label": "1811 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": null, "text": "British-Canadian fur trader, surveyor, and cartographer David Thompson follows Columbia to Pacific and finishes charting entire length of the river.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1349955922#Events", "title": "1811 in Canada", "revid": 1349955922, "section": "Events"}}, {"year": 1855, "year_label": "1855 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "April 7", "text": "April 7 – Battle of Kaba: The Kingdom of Tonga in the islands of the southwest Pacific Ocean (Polynesia, Melanesia / Oceania), intervenes in the war between the self-proclaimed Tui Viti (King) of the island of Fiji, Cakobau, and his rivals the Confederation of Rewa. It results in Rewa's defeat and the tenuous unification of Fiji under Cakobau.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1358982600#April–June", "title": "1855", "revid": 1358982600, "section": "Events › April–June"}}, {"year": 1885, "year_label": "1885 CE", "section": "Technology & Infrastructure", "date": "November 7", "text": "November 7 – The Last Spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway at Craigellachie, British Columbia. John A. Macdonald receives a telegram announcing that the first train from Montreal in Quebec is approaching the Pacific.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1349958268#Events", "title": "1885 in Canada", "revid": 1349958268, "section": "Events"}}, {"year": 1899, "year_label": "1899 CE", "section": "Geopolitics & Diplomacy", "date": "February 12", "text": "12 February – The majority of the Kingdom of Spain's remaining territories in the Pacific are sold to the German Empire through the German–Spanish Treaty.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1370476443#Events", "title": "1899 in Spain", "revid": 1370476443, "section": "Events"}}, {"year": 1928, "year_label": "1928 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": "June 9", "text": "June 9 – Australian aviator Charles Kingsford Smith and his crew complete the first flight across the Pacific Ocean, from the mainland United States to Australia, in the Fokker F.VII aircraft Southern Cross. Having left Oakland, California on May 31, they reach Brisbane via Honolulu and Fiji.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1372527586#June", "title": "1928", "revid": 1372527586, "section": "Events › June"}}, {"year": 1929, "year_label": "1929 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": null, "text": "8–29 August – Rigid airship LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin makes a circumnavigation of the Northern Hemisphere eastabout out of Lakehurst, New Jersey, including the first nonstop flight of any kind across the Pacific Ocean (Tokyo–Los Angeles).", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1371929178#Events", "title": "1929 in Germany", "revid": 1371929178, "section": "Events"}}, {"year": 1929, "year_label": "1929 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": "August 8", "text": "August 8–29 – German rigid airship LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin makes a circumnavigation of the Northern Hemisphere eastabout out of Lakehurst, New Jersey, including the first nonstop flight of any kind across the Pacific Ocean (Tokyo–Los Angeles).", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1372436446#August", "title": "1929", "revid": 1372436446, "section": "Events › August"}}, {"year": 1942, "year_label": "1942 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "April 18", "text": "April 18 – WWII: Doolittle Raid – Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle leads a bombing mission against Japan, along with 79 other airmen of the U.S. Air Force, flying 16 North American B-25 Mitchell land-based bombers. They take off from the USS Hornet in the Pacific Ocean, some 700 miles (1,126 km) east of Tokyo. Thirteen of the B-25 bombers fly over Tokyo and drop their bombs on oil storage facilities, factories and military targets. The other three B-25s drop their bombs over Yokohama, Nagoya and Kobe. All but one of the B-25s run out of fuel before reaching friendly forces in western China and are forced to land in Japanese-occupied China. With the support of Chinese farmers, 71 airmen reach free China. Eight airmen are captured by the Japanese, who execute four of them in retaliation for the raid.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1372873908#April", "title": "1942", "revid": 1372873908, "section": "Events › April"}}, {"year": 1947, "year_label": "1947 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": "August 7", "text": "7 August – Thor Heyerdahl's balsa wood raft, the Kon-Tiki, smashes into the reef at Raroia in the Tuamotu Islands after a 101-day, 4,300-mile journey across the Pacific Ocean, proving that pre-historic peoples could have traveled from South America.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1361057139#Events", "title": "1947 in Norway", "revid": 1361057139, "section": "Events"}}, {"year": 1952, "year_label": "1952 CE", "section": "Technology & Infrastructure", "date": "November 1", "text": "November 1 – Nuclear testing: Operation Ivy: The United States successfully detonates the first hydrogen bomb, codenamed \"Mike\", at Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands in the central Pacific Ocean, with a yield of 10.4 megatons.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1372679549#November", "title": "1952 in the United States", "revid": 1372679549, "section": "Events › November"}}, {"year": 1957, "year_label": "1957 CE", "section": "Disasters & Accidents", "date": "March 22", "text": "March 22 – A United States Air Force Boeing C-97 disappears somewhere over the Pacific Ocean near the coast of Japan. All 67 people and the aircraft remain missing to this day.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1371361971#March", "title": "1957", "revid": 1371361971, "section": "Events › March"}}, {"year": 1960, "year_label": "1960 CE", "section": "Climate & Environment", "date": "May 22", "text": "22 May – The 1960 Valdivia earthquake occurs; with a magnitude of 9.5 MW, it is the largest recorded earthquake. Its epicenter was the city of Valdivia and mainly affected the area between Talca and Chiloé Archipelago. The earthquake was felt in different parts of the planet and produced a tidal wave which affected various locations throughout the Pacific Ocean such as Hawaii and Japan. It also caused the eruption of the Puyehue-Cordón Caulle, which covered the Puyehue Lake with ashes. Between 1,655 and 2,000 people died, and more than 2 million were affected by this disaster.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1371790235#May", "title": "1960 in Chile", "revid": 1371790235, "section": "Events › May"}}, {"year": 1969, "year_label": "1969 CE", "section": "Science & Discovery", "date": "November 24", "text": "November 24 – Apollo program: The Apollo 12 spacecraft splashes down safely in the Pacific Ocean, ending the second crewed mission to the Moon.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1373164180#November", "title": "1969", "revid": 1373164180, "section": "Events › November"}}, {"year": 2009, "year_label": "2009 CE", "section": "Science & Discovery", "date": "July 22", "text": "July 22 – The longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century, lasting up to 6 minutes and 38.86 seconds (0.14 seconds shorter than 6 minutes and 39 seconds), occurs over parts of Asia and the Pacific Ocean.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1367728140#July", "title": "2009", "revid": 1367728140, "section": "Events › July"}}, {"year": 2023, "year_label": "2023 CE", "section": "Climate & Environment", "date": "July 19", "text": "July 19 – Typhoon Doksuri forms in the eastern Pacific Ocean, going on to kill 137 people in Southeast Asia.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1372811827#July", "title": "2023", "revid": 1372811827, "section": "Events › July"}}, {"year": 2024, "year_label": "2024 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": "August 9", "text": "9 August - Indian President Droupadi Murmu makes the first-ever visit by an Indian head of state to Timor-Leste, as part of a tour of Pacific region countries.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1305875818#August", "title": "2024 in Timor-Leste", "revid": 1305875818, "section": "Events › August"}}, {"year": 2025, "year_label": "2025 CE", "section": "Climate & Environment", "date": "December 8", "text": "December 8 – A Mw 7.6 earthquake occurs in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Aomori Prefecture in Japan, triggering a tsunami up to 70 cm high.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1372865033#December", "title": "2025", "revid": 1372865033, "section": "Events › December"}}]}