It has long been a dream for mankind to enter the deep Earth to sample and investigate the structures and inner geological progresses. Until now, scientific drilling has been the unique method in our understanding of the processes and structures of the Earth. This paper try to give a brief introduction of the history, the development, the mission, the structure and management, the membership, the project development scheme of International Continental Drilling Program (ICDP). Great advances have been brought about in many fields of earth sciences by continental scientific drilling in recent years. Based on the recent publications and website materials of ICDP, this paper summarize the main developments in Climate Dynamics and Global Environments, in the Study of Impact Craters, in the GeoBiosphere, in Active Volcanic Systems, in Active Faults, in Hotspot Volcanoes, in Convergent Plate Boundaries and Collision Zones, and in Natural Resources. Special introduction on the scientific results of ICDP drilling at Mt. Unzen, Japan and the Hawai'i Scientific Drilling Project (HSDP) is introduced in this paper. Fascinating discoveries such as the gouge layer of San Andreas Fault and the finding of talc in cuttings of SAFOD project are also introduced in this paper. As one of the three founding members of ICDP, China has also gained a lot of developments in continental scientific drilling; typical examples are the achievements of Chinese Continental Scientific Drilling (CCSD) and the progress of Lake Qinghai Scientific Drilling Project. The preliminary progresses of the third approved ICDP project of China -the Chinese Cretaceous Continental Scientific Drilling Project and the development of ICDP-China are also summarized in this paper.