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| 4500 B.C. |
Coastal cultures such as those found in Greece, Mesopotamia, China, and probably many other parts of the world, engage in diving as a form of food-gathering, commerce, or warfare. |
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| 1194-1184 B.C. |
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| 1000 B.C. |
Many cultures have a history of diving, including those in Japan, Korea, coastal Europe and the Americas. The writings of Homer mention Greek sponge fishermen who plummet to depths of almost 30 meters (100 feet) by holding a heavy rock. They knew little about the physical dangers of diving. To try and compensate for the increasing pressure on their ears, they poured oil into their ear canals and took a mouthful before descent. Once on the bottom, they spit out the oil, cut as many sponges free from the bottom as their breath would allow, and were then hauled back to the surface by a tether. |
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| 500 B.C. | |||
| 415 B.C. |
The first account of diving used in warfare is found in the narration of the siege of Syracuse by the Greeks, written by the historian Thucydides. He tells of Greek divers who submerged to remove underwater obstacles from the harbor in order to ensure the safety of their ships. |
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| 333 B.C. | Alexander the Great | ||
| 100 B.C. | Salvage diving operations around the major shipping ports of the eastern Mediterranean are so well organized that a scale of payment for salvage work is established by law, acknowledging the fact that effort and risk increase with depth. | ||
| 196 A.D | Divers cut ships cables, siege of Byzantium | ||
| 375 | Diving hoods with air pipes described: De Re Militari | ||
| 1203 | Divers cut ships cables, siege of Les Andelys, France | ||
| 1250 | Air reservoirs for wreck divers described by Roger Bacon | ||
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