The Babylonians created clay tablets with maps of their cities and surrounding areas as early as 2300 BCE.

Portolan charts were designed to help sailors navigate coastal waters by providing detailed information about coastlines, harbors, and landmarks.

Gerardus Mercator is credited with developing the Mercator projection, which is still widely used today for navigation and mapping.

Amerigo Vespucci's maps and accounts of his voyages helped to shape European understanding of the Americas.

The Lewis and Clark Expedition was commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson to explore the Louisiana Purchase and find a route to the Pacific Ocean.

John Arrowsmith's maps of India were instrumental in the British colonization of the region.

The Great Trigonometrical Survey of India was conducted to establish a network of triangulation stations that would serve as the basis for mapping the entire Indian subcontinent.

Charles Sanders Peirce is considered one of the founders of modern cartography and is known for his work on thematic maps.

The Perry Expedition was sent by the United States government to establish diplomatic relations with Japan and to open up the country to trade.

August Petermann is credited with developing the choropleth map, which uses different colors or shades to represent the distribution of data across a geographic area.

The International Map of the World project aimed to create a uniform map of the world at a scale of 1:1,000,000.

Henry Morton Stanley is known for his exploration of the African continent, including his search for David Livingstone and his mapping of the Congo River.

The Great Soviet Atlas of the World was published to showcase the achievements of the Soviet Union and to promote its global influence.

John P. Snyder is credited with developing the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) projection, which is widely used for military and civilian mapping applications.

The Landsat program was initiated to monitor Earth's resources, including land use, vegetation, and water quality.