1492    Christopher Columbus sails from La Gomera in the Canary Islands, his final port of call before crossing the Atlantic for the first time.

1520    The Strait of Magellan, the passage immediately south of mainland South America, connecting the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans, is first navigated by Ferdinand Magellan during his global circumnavigation voyage.

1520    After navigating through the South American strait, three ships under the command of Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan reach the Pacific Ocean, becoming the first Europeans to sail from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific.

1815    Napoleon I of France begins his exile on Saint Helena in the Atlantic Ocean.

1819    The {{SS|Savannah}} leaves port at Savannah, Georgia, United States, on a voyage to become the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean. The ship arrived at Liverpool, England on June 20.

1854    The steamship ''SS Arctic'' sinks with 300 people on board. This marks the first great disaster in the Atlantic Ocean.

1855    The first locomotive runs from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean on the Panama Railway.

1912    The British passenger liner, the {{RMS|Titanic}}, sinks in the North Atlantic at 2:20 a.m., two and a half hours after hitting an iceberg. 1,517 people are killed.

1919    The British dirigible R34 lands in New York, completing the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by an airship.

1919    The British airship R34 lands in Norfolk, England, completing the first airship return journey across the Atlantic in 182 hours of flight.