John Smith publishes A Description of New England, an account of his exploration of the region in 1614

Abel Tasman makes landfall in the Macquarie Harbour area in the island now known after him, Tasmania

The Dutch explorer Abel Tasman attempts to land in Golden Bay, New Zealand, resulting in a clash with the Maoris

Abel Tasman reaches yet more islands previously unknown to Europeans – Tonga and Fiji

The berlin, developed in Berlin, becomes the most successful carriage of the seventeenth century

Holland and England are now producing the magnificent ocean-going merchant vessels known as East Indiamen

The postchaise, introduced in France, provides the first chance of reasonably comfortable travel by land

Young noblemen, particularly from Britain, visit Italy on the Grand Tour

Easter Island is reached by the Dutch, beginning a spate of European discovery in the islands of the Pacific

The Danish explorer Vitus Bering sails into Arctic seas through the strait between Asia and America known now by his name

The first Conestoga wagons are acquired by George Washington for an expedition through the Alleghenies

Captain James Cook sails from Plymouth, in England, heading for Tahiti to observe the transit of Venus

Captain Cook reaches New Zealand and sets off to chart its entire coastline

Captain Cook sets off, in HMS Resolution, on his second voyage to the southern hemisphere

Dutch nomads, pressing far north from Cape Town, become known as the Trekboers

British explorer Captain James Cook is killed in a skirmish with natives in Hawaii over a stolen boat

The first mail coach leaves Bristol for London, introducing a new era of faster transport

Alexander Mackenzie explores by canoe from central Canada through the Great Slave Lake to the Arctic Ocean

Naval officer George Vancouver sails from Britain on the voyage which will bring him to the northwest coast of America

Alexander Mackenzie reaches the Pacific coast of Canada, becoming the first known person to cross the north American continent

Mungo Park sets off on his first expedition to explore the Niger on behalf of the African Association

British explorer George Bass sails round Tasmania in an open whaleboat, discovering the strait which now bears his name

A steam tug designed by William Symington, the Charlotte Dundas, goes into service on the Forth and Clyde canal

Cornish engineer Richard Trevithick drives a steam carriage in London, from Holborn to Paddington and back

Richard Trevithick runs the first locomotive on rails, pulling heavy weights a distance of 9 miiles (15 km) near Merthyr Tydfil in Wales