King Menes builds a canal in Upper Egypt on about this date.
The approximate date that Mesopotamia's Shatt-el-hai Canal
is built, linking the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.
The approximate date Egypt's King Senruset builds a canal linking
Bubastis, on the Nile, to the Red Sea. It's a precursor to the
Suez Canal.
Egypt builds a second canal near Wadi Haifa, extending navigation
of the Nile.
China's 260-mile Wild Goose Canal links the Yellow River to
the Huai River.
The approximate date of the building of the Han-kou (Han Ditch)
connecting China's Huai River to the Yangtze as well as a canal
south of the Yangtze toward Soochow and Hangchow.
Romans build a canal connecting Arelate (Arles), France, to
the Mediterranean.
Marius builds a canal from the lower Rhône River to the
Mediterranean.
Nero attempts to build a canal through Greece's Isthmus of
Corinth but soon abandons the attempt.
The Romans in Britain build the Foss Dyke, connecting Lincoln
with the Trent River at Torksey.
Construction begins on China's Grand Canal.
China's Sui rulers complete the Yung-Chi Canal.
The approximate date of the Pien section of China's Grand Canal.
The Grand Canal is finished.
Egypt makes repairs to Ramses' canal.
Chaio Wei-yo invents the chambered lock, on China's Grand Canal.
The Dutch begin building canals with single locks.
The Flemish begin building canals with single locks.
England's Henry I improves the Foss Dyke.
The Italians begin building canals with single locks.
Chinese mathematician Kuo Chou-king completes the Grand Canal,
from Chambuluc to the Huang River.
The rebuilding and rerouting of China's Grand Canal is completed.
The Dutch build a primitive double lock on the River Lek at
Vreeswijk.
Germany begins building the Stecknitz Navigation to connect
Lake Molln with the River Elbe.
The first true double lock is built at Dammes, Belgium.
The Stecknitz Navigation is completed.
China's Grand Canal carries 450,000 tons of freight.
The engineer Alberti builds the first Italian locks, near Bologna.
The Domenico Brothers of Viterbo devise a canal lock with water
opening built into wooden gates.
The Duke of Milan's engineer Bertola da Novato builds the Bereguardo
Canal, creating the first modern locks.
Italian painter Leonardo Da Vinci designs six locks for Milanese
canals.
The remains of Nero's Rome-to-Naples canal are discovered.
The priest Francisco López de Gómera suggests
digging a canal through Central America to connect the two oceans.
John True begins building a bypass of the upper mile and three
quarters of England's Exe River, the Exeter Ship Canal.
The Exeter Ship Canal is completed.
The date 'pound' locks were apparently used on the River Trent
and the River Lea.
Samuel de Champlain publishes his Brief Narrative, describing
his voyage to the West Indies. In it he proposes a canal across
Panama.
France's Henry IV begins the construction of the Briare Canal,
linking the River Briare with the River Seine.
Sweden builds a canal between Eskilstona and Lake Malaren.
France's Canal de Bergues, connecting Dunkerque with Bergues,
is built.
Louis XIII completes the Briare Canal.
Dutch settlers avoid sailing around the dangerous waters off
Brooklyn's Red Hook by digging a canal from the East River to
Gowanus Cove.
Pierre-Paul Riquet begins construction of the Languedoc Canal
(Canal du Midi), to connect the Atlantic Ocean with the Mediterranean.
Father Louis Joliet speculates about a water link between Lake
Michigan and the Illinois River.
A Cape Cod canal is proposed.
Southern France's Canal du Midi (Languedoc Canal, Canal Royale,
Canal des Deux Mers) links the Mediterranean with the Atlantic.
Father Joliet suggests building a canal from the Chicago River
to the Illinois River, connecting Lake Michigan with the Mississippi
River.
William Penn suggests a canal to connect the Schuylkill and
Delaware rivers with the Susquehanna.
Virginia's Governor Spottswood proposes a canal to connect
the James and Ohio rivers. ** English canal engineer James Brindley
is born in Derbyshire.
Construction begins on Ireland's Newry Navigation, from Tyrone
to Dublin.
The first canal in New York State is built, across a neck in
the Mohawk River.
The Newry Navigation is completed.
May 3
U. S. canal engineer Christopher Colles is born in Dublin.
U. S. canal engineer Loammi Baldwin is born in Woburn, Massachusetts.
© 2004 David Minor / Eagles Byte
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