JANUARY January 1 Discovery of the Planetoids by Italian astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi (1801). First oil discovered in Texas, by the Spindletop drilling rig, at Beaumont (1901). January 3 Howard Carter discovered the sarcophagus in Tutankhamun's tomb, Egypt (1924). British explorer Sir Edmund Hillary reached the South Pole (1958). January 4 Columbus sailed from America back to Spain (1493). January 7 Galileo discovered four of Jupiter's satellites (1610). January 8 French explorer La Salle reached Niagara Falls, Canada (1679). January 10 The tomb of Cleopatra was discovered (1890). January 18 Captain Cook discovered Hawaii (1778). January 24 Gold was first discovered at Sutter's sawmill in California (1848). January 26 Brazil was discovered by Vincente Yáñes Pinzón (1500). FEBRUARY February 7 Main group of the Dead Sea Scrolls found in caves on the Jordan River (1947). February 22 First effective drug against tuberculosis discovered by Dr Selman Abraham Waksman, USA (1946). February 27 Captain John Briscoe discovered Antarctica (1831). First details about the discovery of saccharine published, Baltimore, USA (1879). February 29 First pulsar discovered by English astronomer Jocelyn Bell (1967). MARCH March 6 Aspirin patented by chemist Felix Hoffman (1899). March 10 Japanese soldier discovered hiding on Lubang Island, Philippines, unaware that World War II had ended (1974). March 13 Discovery of the Planet Uranus by William Herschel, German-born British astronomer (1781). March 18 Discovery of the Planet Pluto by US astronomer Clyde Tombaugh (1930). APRIL April 8 Spanish explorer named Juan Ponce de Leon discovered Florida (1513). April 20 French explorer Jacques Cartier discovered the coast of Labrador, North America (1534). April 22 Portuguese explorer Pedro Cabral discovered Brazil (1500). April 28 English explorer James Cook became the first European to discover Australia, Botany Bay (1770). MAY May 9 Christopher Columbus began his fourth voyage (1502). May 17 Mississippi River discovered (1673). May 21 St Helena was discovered by the Portuguese navigator, João da Nova Castell (1502). JUNE June 15 Captain Scott set out on his ill-fated expedition to the South Pole (1910). JULY July 3 Québec was discovered by French explorer Samuel Champlain (1608). July 8 Vasco da Gama, the Portuguese navigator, left Lisbon for a voyage on which he discovered the Cape route to India (1497). July 11 Captain James Cook sailed from Plymouth on his final voyage (1776). July 13 English mountaineer Edward Whymper completed the first ascent of the Matterhorn, Alps (1865). July 24 Canada discovered by Frenchman Jacques Cartier (1534). July 27 Insulin was discovered by Canadian physiologist Dr Frederick Grant Banting and his assistant Charles Best (1921). July 31 Christopher Columbus discovered Trinidad on his third voyage (1498). AUGUST August 1 Christopher Columbus discovered the American mainland and named it Santa Isla believing it to be an island (1498). August 3 Christopher Columbus left Palos de la Frontera, Spain, on his first voyage of discovery (1492). Source of the Nile, Lake Victoria, discovered by English explorer, John Speke (1858). August 11 The moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, discovered by US astronomer Asaph Hall (1877). August 27 Oil discovered in the USA at Titusville by Edwin Drake (1859). SEPTEMBER September 12 Henry Hudson sailed into New York Harbour and up to Albany to discover the river named after him (1609). Lascaux Caves containing prehistoric wall paintings, discovered by a French car mechanic (1940). September 23 Johann Galle, German astronomer, discovered the planet Neptune (1846). September 30 Alexander Fleming announced his discovery of penicillin (1928). OCTOBER October 12 Christopher Columbus discovered the New World naming it San Salvador (1492). NOVEMBER November 4 Tomb of Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun discovered by British archaeologist Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon (1922). November 16 Longest river in Australia, the Murray, discovered by Australian explorer Hamilton Hume (1824). November 19 Christopher Columbus discovered Puerto Rico, on his second voyage to the New World (1493). November 22 Vasco da Gama, Portuguese navigator, rounded the Cape of Good Hope in his search to discover a route to India (1497). November 24 Tasmania discovered by Dutch navigator Abel Tasman (1642). November 28 Ferdinand Magellan, Portuguese navigator, discovered an ocean which he named the Pacific (1520). DECEMBER December 6 Christopher Columbus discovered Haiti and the Dominican Republic (1492). December 9 The Macquarie River in Australia was discovered by George Evans (1813). December 13 New Zealand discovered by Dutch navigator Abel Tasman (1642). December 26 Marie and Pierre Curie discovered radium (1898). December 27 Charles Darwin set sail in the Beagle on his voyage of scientific discovery (1831).