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| | | | Astronomy |
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| 2781 BC |
| | | Sirius rises in this year on the first day of the first Egyptian month - a rare event which possibly launches the Egyptian calendar system | |
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| c. 1750 BC |
| | | Babylonian astronomers name many of the constellations and identify the planets | |
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| c. 1100 BC |
| | | Phoenician sailors use the pole star for navigational purposes | |
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| 585 BC |
| | | Thales of Miletus, traditionally the first philosopher, is credited with the prediction of a solar eclipse | |
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| c. 550 BC |
| | | The Greeks develop the Babylonian theme of the zodiac, naming it the zodiakos kyklos or circle of animals | |
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| c. 450 BC |
| | | The followers of Pythagoras maintain that the earth revolves on its own axis and moves in an orbit | |
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| c. 350 BC |
| | | Eudoxus of Cnidus proposes the concept of transparent spheres supporting the bodies visible in the heavens | |
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| c. 270 BC |
| | | On the small Greek island of Samos an astronomer, Aristarchus, comes to the startling conclusion that the earth is in orbit round the sun | |
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| c. 140 BC |
| | | The Greek astronomer Hipparchus is credited with the invention of the astrolabe, measuring the angle of sun or star above the horizon | |
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| c. 130 BC |
| | | The Greek astronomer Hipparchus, mapping the stars, observes but cannot explain the precession of the equinoxes | |
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