People have been going under water holding their breath since man first entered the water.  In the past 2300 years though we have started making advances in our ability to explore and understand the underwater world.  Here is a list of some significant milestones that have been achieved with guts, determination and ingenuity.

4500 BC - 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.

 332 BC - Alexander the Great, in his famous siege of Tyre (Lebanon), uses demolition divers to remove underwater obstacles from the harbor. It is reported that Alexander himself made several dives in a crude bell to observe the work in progress.

 1912 - The U.S. Navy tested tables published by Haldane, Boycott and Damant.

 1915 - An early film of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea marks the first commercial use of underwater cinematography. Cast and crew use modified Fleuss/Davis rebreathers and "Oxylite," a compound that generates oxygen through a chemical reaction. (Oxylite explodes if it gets wet, a trait that tends to limit its popularity as a scuba component.)

 1930 - Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution In Cape Cod, Massachusetts, is founded. Woods Hole would become one of the world's leading oceanographic research institutions.

 2002 - London Marathon runner clad in a deep sea diving suit - finally finished the course.
Lloyd Scott hopes his time of five days, eight hours, 29 minutes and 46 seconds will win him a place in the record books - for the slowest ever marathon

. 2004 - Albert Alvin Tillman, 76, co-founder of NAUI and the Los Angeles County instructor program passed away January 16 in Seattle.