1 July 1419 — Anchor in the bay
Rounding Ponta de São Lourenço, João Gonçalves Zarco anchored in the bay of Machico, chosen for its shelter. The crew spent the night on board and landed only the next day, on an island covered by the dense woodland that would give it its name.
1958–1966 — Levada dos Tornos — 63 km, the island's longest; 17.18 km northern section with three tunnels
Rising at the Ribeira dos Tornos (Boaventura, 660 m), it feeds the Fajã da Nogueira power plant and then the municipalities of Funchal, Santa Cruz and Machico for drinking water and irrigation — a leap in habitability for the south-east coast.
Whaling — 1941–1981 at Caniçal; voluntary end; museum created on 26 February 1990, new building on 2 September 2011
Forty years of whaling whose tools and stories the Machico municipal museum keeps, with life-size models and 3D films; the 1981 halt followed the ban on marketing whale products by several countries and the decline in sightings.
Sand — Black and natural at Seixal, Alagoa and Prainha; golden and imported from Morocco at Calheta (2004) and Machico
Praia Formosa, the largest public beach, lines up more than 2 km of pebbles and black sand west of Funchal. Calheta was the island's first artificial beach.
