1120    The ''White Ship'' sinks in the English Channel, drowning William Adelin, son of Henry I of England.

1588    The Spanish Armada, with 130 ships and 30,000 men, sets sail from Lisbon heading for the English Channel. (It will take until May 30 for all ships to leave port).

1588    The last ship of the Spanish Armada sets sail from Lisbon heading for the English Channel.

1785    Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier, co-pilot of the first-ever manned flight (1783), and his companion, Pierre Romain, become the first-ever casualties of an air crash when their hot air balloon explodes during their attempt to cross the English Channel.

1875    Captain Matthew Webb became first person to swim the English Channel

1909    Louis Blériot makes the first flight across the English Channel in a heavier-than-air machine from (Calais to Dover) in 37 minutes.

1912    Harriet Quimby becomes the first woman to fly an airplane across the English Channel.

1926    Gertrude Ederle becomes the first woman to swim across the English Channel.

1928    Juan de la Cierva makes the first autogyro crossing of the English Channel.

1959    SR-N1 hovercraft crosses the English Channel from Calais to Dover in just over 2 hours.

1979    Bryan Allen wins the second Kremer prize for a man powered flight across the English Channel in the Gossamer Albatross.

1987    British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and President of France François Mitterrand sign the agreement to build a tunnel under the English Channel (Eurotunnel).

2008    Swiss pilot and inventor Yves Rossy becomes first person to fly a jet engine-powered wing across the English Channel.