The timeline of historic inventions is a chronological list of particularly significant technological
invention
An invention is a unique or novelty (patent), novel machine, device, Method_(patent), method, composition, idea, or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It m ...
s and their
inventor
An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea, or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...
s, where known. This page lists nonincremental inventions that are widely recognized by reliable sources as having had a direct impact on the course of history that was profound, global, and enduring. The dates in this article make frequent use of the
units mya and kya, which refer to millions and thousands of years ago, respectively.
Paleolithic
The dates listed in this section refer to the earliest evidence of an invention found and dated by
archaeologists
Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...
(or in a few cases, suggested by indirect evidence). Dates are often approximate and change as more research is done, reported and seen. Older examples of any given technology are often found. The locations listed are for the site where the earliest solid evidence has been found, but especially for the earlier inventions, there is little certainty how close that may be to where the invention took place.
Lower Paleolithic
The Lower Paleolithic period lasted over 3 million years, during which there many human-like species
evolved
Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...
including toward the end of this period, ''Homo sapiens''. The original divergence between humans and
chimpanzees occurred 13 (
Mya), however interbreeding continued until as recently as 4 Ma, with the first species clearly belonging to the human (and not chimpanzee) lineage being ''
Australopithecus anamensis
''Australopithecus anamensis'' is a hominin species that lived roughly between 4.3 and 3.8 million years ago, and is the oldest known ''Australopithecus'' species,
Nearly 100 fossil specimens of ''A. anamensis'' are known from Kenya and Ethiopia ...
''. Some species are controversial among paleoanthropologists, who disagree whether they are species on their own or not. Here
Homo ergaster
''Homo ergaster'' is an extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans who lived in Africa in the Early Pleistocene. Whether ''H. ergaster'' constitutes a species of its own or should be subsumed into '' H. erectus'' is an ongoing and unresol ...
is included under
Homo erectus
''Homo erectus'' ( ) is an extinction, extinct species of Homo, archaic human from the Pleistocene, spanning nearly 2 million years. It is the first human species to evolve a humanlike body plan and human gait, gait, to early expansions of h ...
, while
Homo rhodesiensis is included under
Homo heidelbergensis
''Homo heidelbergensis'' is a species of archaic human from the Middle Pleistocene of Europe and Africa, as well as potentially Asia depending on the taxonomic convention used. The species-level classification of ''Homo'' during the Middle Pleis ...
.
During this period the
Quaternary glaciation
The Quaternary glaciation, also known as the Pleistocene glaciation, is an alternating series of glacial period, glacial and interglacial, interglacial periods during the Quaternary period that began 2.58 Year#SI prefix multipliers, Ma (million ...
began (about 2.58 million years ago), and continues to today. It has been an
ice age
An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...
, with
cycles of 40–100,000 years alternating between long, cold, more glaciated periods, and shorter warmer periods –
interglacial
An interglacial period (or alternatively interglacial, interglaciation) is a geological interval of warmer global average temperature lasting thousands of years that separates consecutive glacial periods within an ice age. The current Holocene i ...
episodes.
* 3.3 Mya – 2.6 Mya:
Stone tool
Stone tools have been used throughout human history but are most closely associated with prehistoric cultures and in particular those of the Stone Age. Stone tools may be made of either ground stone or knapped stone, the latter fashioned by a ...
s - found in modern-day
Kenya
Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...
are older and only found on the archetype road. Ancient stone tools from
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
(
Oldowan
The Oldowan (or Mode I) was a widespread stone tool archaeological industry during the early Lower Paleolithic spanning the late Pliocene and the first half of the Early Pleistocene. These early tools were simple, usually made by chipping one ...
) were hand-crafted by
Australopithecus
''Australopithecus'' (, ; or (, ) is a genus of early hominins that existed in Africa during the Pliocene and Early Pleistocene. The genera ''Homo'' (which includes modern humans), ''Paranthropus'', and ''Kenyanthropus'' evolved from some ''Aus ...
or related people.
* 2.3 Mya: Earliest likely
control of fire and
cooking
Cooking, also known as cookery or professionally as the culinary arts, is the art, science and craft of using heat to make food more palatable, digestible, nutritious, or Food safety, safe. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely, from ...
, by ''
Homo habilis
''Homo habilis'' ( 'handy man') is an extinct species of archaic human from the Early Pleistocene of East and South Africa about 2.4 million years ago to 1.65 million years ago ( mya). Upon species description in 1964, ''H. habilis'' was highly ...
''
* 1.76 Mya: Advanced (
Acheulean
Acheulean (; also Acheulian and Mode II), from the French after the type site of Saint-Acheul, is an archaeological industry of stone tool manufacture characterized by the distinctive oval and pear-shaped "hand axes" associated with ''Homo ...
) stone tools in
Kenya
Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...
by ''
Homo erectus
''Homo erectus'' ( ) is an extinction, extinct species of Homo, archaic human from the Pleistocene, spanning nearly 2 million years. It is the first human species to evolve a humanlike body plan and human gait, gait, to early expansions of h ...
''
* 1.75 Mya – 150 kya: Varying estimates for the
origin of language
The origin of language, its relationship with human evolution, and its consequences have been subjects of study for centuries. Scholars wishing to study the origins of language draw inferences from evidence such as the fossil record, archaeolog ...
* 1.5 Mya:
Bone tool
In archaeology, bone tools have been documented from the advent of ''Homo sapiens'' and are also known from ''Homo neanderthalensis'' contexts or even earlier. Bone has been used for making tools by virtually all hunter-gatherer societies, even w ...
s in Africa by ''
Homo erectus
''Homo erectus'' ( ) is an extinction, extinct species of Homo, archaic human from the Pleistocene, spanning nearly 2 million years. It is the first human species to evolve a humanlike body plan and human gait, gait, to early expansions of h ...
'' and/or ''
Paranthropus boisei
''Paranthropus boisei'' is a species of australopithecine from the Early Pleistocene of East Africa about 2.5 to 1.15 million years ago. The holotype specimen, OH 5, was discovered by palaeoanthropologist Mary Leakey in 1959 at Olduvai Gorge, Ta ...
''
* 900 kya – 40 kya:
Boat
A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size or capacity, its shape, or its ability to carry boats.
Small boats are typically used on inland waterways s ...
s
* 500 kya:
Hafting
Hafting is a process by which an Artifact (archaeology), artifact, often made of bone tool, bone, stone tool, stone, or tool steel, metal is attached to a ''haft'' (handle or strap). This makes the artifact more useful by allowing it to be launch ...
in South Africa by ''
Homo heidelbergensis
''Homo heidelbergensis'' is a species of archaic human from the Middle Pleistocene of Europe and Africa, as well as potentially Asia depending on the taxonomic convention used. The species-level classification of ''Homo'' during the Middle Pleis ...
''
* 500 kya – 450 kya:
Woodworking
Woodworking is the skill of making items from wood, and includes cabinetry, furniture making, wood carving, joinery, carpentry, and woodturning.
History
Along with stone, clay and animal parts, wood was one of the first materials worked b ...
construction in
Zambia
Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...
by ''
Homo heidelbergensis
''Homo heidelbergensis'' is a species of archaic human from the Middle Pleistocene of Europe and Africa, as well as potentially Asia depending on the taxonomic convention used. The species-level classification of ''Homo'' during the Middle Pleis ...
'' (The
oldest known surviving buildings are made from stone and date back no more than 9,500 years.)
* 420 – 200 kya:
Food storage
Food storage is a way of decreasing the variability of the food supply in the face of natural, inevitable variability. p.507 It allows food to be eaten for some time (typically weeks to months) after harvest rather than solely immediately. I ...
in the form of uncracked bones saved for their marrow in
Qesem cave, Israel.
* 400 kya:
Pigment
A pigment is a powder used to add or alter color or change visual appearance. Pigments are completely or nearly solubility, insoluble and reactivity (chemistry), chemically unreactive in water or another medium; in contrast, dyes are colored sub ...
s in Zambia by ''
Homo heidelbergensis
''Homo heidelbergensis'' is a species of archaic human from the Middle Pleistocene of Europe and Africa, as well as potentially Asia depending on the taxonomic convention used. The species-level classification of ''Homo'' during the Middle Pleis ...
''
* 337 kya – 300 kya:
Schöningen Spear
A spear is a polearm consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with Fire hardening, fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable materia ...
s in
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
likely by ''
Homo heidelbergensis
''Homo heidelbergensis'' is a species of archaic human from the Middle Pleistocene of Europe and Africa, as well as potentially Asia depending on the taxonomic convention used. The species-level classification of ''Homo'' during the Middle Pleis ...
'' or early Neandarthals.
* 320 kya: The
trade
Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market.
Traders generally negotiate through a medium of cr ...
and long-distance (up to 50 miles)
transportation
Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...
of resources (e.g. obsidian), use of pigments, and possible making of projectile points in Kenya
Middle Paleolithic
The evolution of
early modern humans around 300 kya coincides with the start of the Middle Paleolithic period. During this 250,000-year period, our related
archaic humans
''Homo'' () is a genus of great ape (family Hominidae) that emerged from the genus ''Australopithecus'' and encompasses only a single extant species, ''Homo sapiens'' (modern humans), along with a number of extinct species (collectively calle ...
such as
Neanderthals
Neanderthals ( ; ''Homo neanderthalensis'' or sometimes ''H. sapiens neanderthalensis'') are an extinction, extinct group of archaic humans who inhabited Europe and Western and Central Asia during the Middle Pleistocene, Middle to Late Plei ...
and
Denisovans
The Denisovans or Denisova hominins ( ) are an extinct species or subspecies of archaic human that ranged across Asia during the Lower Paleolithic, Lower and Middle Paleolithic, and lived, based on current evidence, from 285 thousand to 25 thou ...
began to spread out of Africa, joined later by ''Homo sapiens''. Over the course of the period we see evidence of increasingly long-distance trade, religious rites, and other behavior associated with
Behavioral modernity
Behavioral modernity is a suite of behavioral and cognitive traits believed to distinguish current ''Homo sapiens'' from other anatomically modern humans, hominins, and primates. Most scholars agree that modern human behavior can be characteri ...
.
* 279 kya:
Hafting
Hafting is a process by which an Artifact (archaeology), artifact, often made of bone tool, bone, stone tool, stone, or tool steel, metal is attached to a ''haft'' (handle or strap). This makes the artifact more useful by allowing it to be launch ...
and early stone-tipped projectile weapons in Ethiopia
* 200 kya: Simple glue (
adhesive
Adhesive, also known as glue, cement, mucilage, or paste, is any non-metallic substance applied to one or both surfaces of two separate items that binds them together and resists their separation.
The use of adhesives offers certain advantage ...
) made of one kind of material, birch tar, in Central Italy by Neanderthals.
* 200 kya:
Beds in South Africa.
* 170 kya – 90 kya:
Clothing
Clothing (also known as clothes, garments, dress, apparel, or attire) is any item worn on a human human body, body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin s ...
, among anatomically modern humans in Africa. Genetic evidence from body lice suggests a range of dates centering over 100 thousand years ago. The first
bone scrapers appropriate for scraping hides to make supple leather were found in Morocco dating to 90–120,000 years ago.
* 164 kya – 47 kya: Heat treating of stone blades in South Africa.
* 135 kya – 100 kya:
Bead
A bead is a small, decorative object that is formed in a variety of shapes and sizes of a material such as stone, bone, shell, glass, plastic, wood, or pearl and with a small hole for threading or stringing. Beads range in size from under 1 ...
s in Israel and
Algeria
Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...
— implying string or thread
* 100 kya: Compound
paint
Paint is a material or mixture that, when applied to a solid material and allowed to dry, adds a film-like layer. As art, this is used to create an image or images known as a painting. Paint can be made in many colors and types. Most paints are ...
s made in South Africa
* 100 kya: Funerals (in the form of
burial
Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...
) in Israel
* 90 kya:
Harpoon
A harpoon is a long, spear-like projectile used in fishing, whaling, sealing, and other hunting to shoot, kill, and capture large fish or marine mammals such as seals, sea cows, and whales. It impales the target and secures it with barb or ...
s in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...
.
* 70 kya – 60 kya in
Sibudu Cave
Sibudu Cave is a rock shelter in a sandstone cliff in northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is an important Middle Stone Age site occupied, with some gaps, from years ago to years ago.
Evidence of some of the earliest examples of modern h ...
in South Africa by ''Homo sapiens'':
**
Compound adhesives
**
Arrow
An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers c ...
s and other evidence of bow-and-arrow technology
**
Sewing needle
A sewing needle, used for hand-sewing, is a long slender tool with a pointed tip at one end and a hole (or ''eye'') to hold the sewing thread. The earliest needles were made of bone or wood; modern needles are manufactured from high carbon steel ...
(implying thread of some kind)
* 61 kya – 62 kya:
Cave painting
In archaeology, cave paintings are a type of parietal art (which category also includes petroglyphs, or engravings), found on the wall or ceilings of caves. The term usually implies prehistoric art, prehistoric origin. These paintings were often c ...
in
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
by
Neanderthal
Neanderthals ( ; ''Homo neanderthalensis'' or sometimes ''H. sapiens neanderthalensis'') are an extinction, extinct group of archaic humans who inhabited Europe and Western and Central Asia during the Middle Pleistocene, Middle to Late Plei ...
[
"we present dating results for three sites in Spain that show that cave art emerged in Iberia substantially earlier than previously thought. Uranium-thorium (U-Th) dates on carbonate crusts overlying paintings provide minimum
ages for a red linear motif in La Pasiega (Cantabria), a hand stencil in Maltravieso (Extremadura), and red-painted speleothems in Ardales (Andalucía). Collectively, these results show that cave art in Iberia is older than 64.8 thousand years (ka). This cave art is the earliest dated so far and predates, by at least 20 ka, the arrival of modern humans in Europe, which implies Neandertal authorship."]
* 55.8–51.2 kya:
Representational and
Narrative art
Narrative art is art that tells a story, either as a moment in an ongoing story or as a sequence of events unfolding over time. Some of the earliest evidence of human art suggests that people told stories with pictures. Although there are so ...
in
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
by ''Homo sapiens''
Upper Paleolithic to Early Mesolithic
50 kya was long regarded as the beginning of
behavioral modernity
Behavioral modernity is a suite of behavioral and cognitive traits believed to distinguish current ''Homo sapiens'' from other anatomically modern humans, hominins, and primates. Most scholars agree that modern human behavior can be characteri ...
, which defined the Upper Paleolithic period. The Upper Paleolithic lasted nearly 40,000 years, while research continues to push the beginnings of behavioral modernity earlier into the Middle Paleolithic. Behavioral modernity is characterized by the widespread observation of religious rites, artistic expression and the appearance of tools made for purely intellectual or artistic pursuits.
* 49 kya – 30 kya:
Ground stone
In archaeology, ground stone is a category of stone tool formed by the grinding of a coarse-grained tool stone, either purposely or incidentally. Ground stone tools are usually made of basalt, rhyolite, granite, or other cryptocrystalline and ...
tools – fragments of an axe in Australia date to 49–45 ka, more appear in Japan closer to 30 ka, and elsewhere closer to the Neolithic.
* 47 kya: The oldest-known mines in the world are from Eswatini, and extracted hematite for the production of the red pigment
ochre
Ochre ( ; , ), iron ochre, or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colou ...
.
* 45 kya – 9 kya: Earliest evidence of
shoe
A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot. Though the human foot can adapt to varied terrains and climate conditions, it is vulnerable, and shoes provide protection. Form was originally tied to function, but ...
s, suggested by changes in foot bone morphology in China by
Tianyuan man. The earliest physical shoes found so far are bark
sandal
Sandals are an open type of shoe, consisting of a sole held to the wearer's foot by straps going over the instep and around the ankle. Sandals can also have a heel. While the distinction between sandals and other types of footwear can sometim ...
s dated to 10 to 9 kya in
Fort Rock Cave
Fort Rock Cave was the site of the earliest evidence of human habitation in the US state of Oregon before the excavation of the Paisley Caves. Fort Rock Cave featured numerous well-preserved sagebrush sandals, ranging from 9,000 to 13,000 years ...
,
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
.
The oldest known leather shoe dated to 5.5 kya was found in excellent condition in the
Areni-1 cave
The Areni-1 cave complex () is a multicomponent site, and late Chalcolithic/Early Bronze Age ritual site and settlement, located near the Areni village in southern Armenia along the Arpa River.
Findings
In 2008, Armenian PhD student and arc ...
located in the
Vayots Dzor
Vayots Dzor (, ) is a province (''marz'') of Armenia. It lies at the southeastern end of the country, bordering the Nakhchivan exclave of Azerbaijan to the west and the Kalbajar District of Azerbaijan to the east. It covers an area of . With a p ...
province of
Armenia
Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...
.
* 44 kya – 42 kya:
Tally stick
A tally stick (or simply a tally) was an ancient memory aid used to record and document numbers, quantities, and messages. Tally sticks first appear as animal bones carved with notches during the Upper Palaeolithic; a notable example is the Is ...
s (see
Lebombo bone) in
Eswatini
Eswatini, formally the Kingdom of Eswatini, also known by its former official names Swaziland and the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by South Africa on all sides except the northeast, where i ...
* 42 kya:
Flute
The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...
in Germany
* 37 kya:
Mortar and pestle
A mortar and pestle is a set of two simple tools used to prepare ingredients or substances by compression (physics), crushing and shear force, grinding them into a fine Paste (rheology), paste or powder in the kitchen, laboratory, and pharmacy. ...
in
Southwest Asia
West Asia (also called Western Asia or Southwest Asia) is the westernmost region of Asia. As defined by most academics, UN bodies and other institutions, the subregion consists of Anatolia, the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Mesopotamia, the Armenia ...
* 32-28 kya:
Rope
A rope is a group of yarns, Plying, plies, fibres, or strands that are plying, twisted or braided together into a larger and stronger form. Ropes have high tensile strength and can be used for dragging and lifting. Rope is thicker and stronger ...
and
Cords for "hafting stone tools, weaving
baskets
A basket is a container that is traditionally constructed from stiff fibers, and can be made from a range of materials, including wood splints, runners, and cane. While most baskets are made from plant materials, other materials such as horse ...
, or sewing garments," according to Elis Kvavadze et al.
* 31 kya:
Amputation
Amputation is the removal of a Limb (anatomy), limb or other body part by Physical trauma, trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as cancer, malign ...
and
surgery
Surgery is a medical specialty that uses manual and instrumental techniques to diagnose or treat pathological conditions (e.g., trauma, disease, injury, malignancy), to alter bodily functions (e.g., malabsorption created by bariatric surgery s ...
.
Medicine
Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...
in a meaningful sense likely predates the human-chimpanzee split, as, for example, herbal medicine has been observed in other primates.
* 28 kya:
Ceramics
A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porce ...
(direct evidence) and
weaving
Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal ...
(impressions left in the ceramics) in
Moravia
Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia.
The medieval and early ...
(Czech Republic) and
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
. (The oldest piece of woven cloth found so far was in Çatalhöyük, Turkey and dated to about 9,000 years ago.)
* 24 kya:
Oldest known ceramic sculpture
* 23 kya:
Domestication of the dog
The domestication of the dog was the process which led to the domestic dog. This included the dog's genetic divergence from the wolf, its domestication, and the emergence of the first dogs. Genetic studies suggest that all ancient and modern dogs ...
in
Siberia
Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...
.
* 22 – 17 kya
Bullroarer
* 22 kya:
Fish hook
A fish hook or fishhook, formerly also called an angle (from Old English ''angol'' and Proto-Germanic ''*angulaz''), is a hook used to catch fish either by piercing and embedding onto the inside of the fish mouth (angling) or, more rarely, by i ...
in
Okinawa Island
, officially , is the largest of the Okinawa Islands and the Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Islands of Japan in the Kyushu region. It is the smallest and least populated of the five Japanese archipelago, main islands of Japan. The island is ...
, modern day Japan.
* 21 – 3.7 kya:
Star chart
A star chart is a celestial map of the night sky with astronomical objects laid out on a grid system. They are used to identify and locate constellations, stars, nebulae, galaxies, and planets. They have been used for human navigation since tim ...
in
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, and later
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
,
Kashmir
Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...
, Germany, and Egypt.
* 20 – 16 kya:
Pottery
Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other raw materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. The place where such wares are made by a ''potter'' is al ...
in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
* 17.5 kya:
Spear-thrower
A spear-thrower, spear-throwing lever, or ''atlatl'' (pronounced or ; Classical Nahuatl, Nahuatl ''ahtlatl'' ) is a tool that uses leverage to achieve greater velocity in Dart (missile), dart or javelin-throwing, and includes a Plain bearing, b ...
(atlatl), found in France.
* 14.5 kya:
Bread
Bread is a baked food product made from water, flour, and often yeast. It is a staple food across the world, particularly in Europe and the Middle East. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cu ...
in Jordan
* 12 kya:
Spindle whorl
A spindle whorl is a weighted object fitted to a spindle to help maintain the spindle's speed of rotation while spinning yarn. History
A spindle whorl may be a disk or spherical object. It is typically positioned on the bottom of the spindle. T ...
, also the oldest
wheel
A wheel is a rotating component (typically circular in shape) that is intended to turn on an axle Bearing (mechanical), bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the Simple machine, six simple machin ...
-like tool, at
Nahal Ein Gev II (Israel)
Agricultural and proto-agricultural eras
The end of the
Last Glacial Period ("ice age") and the beginning of the
Holocene
The Holocene () is the current geologic time scale, geological epoch, beginning approximately 11,700 years ago. It follows the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene to ...
around 11.7 ka coincide with the
Agricultural Revolution, marking the beginning of the agricultural era, which persisted there until the industrial revolution.
Neolithic and Late Mesolithic
During the Neolithic period, lasting 8400 years, stone began to be used for construction, and remained a predominant hard material for toolmaking. Copper and arsenic bronze were developed towards the end of this period, and of course the use of many softer materials such as wood, bone, and fibers continued. Domestication spread both in the sense of how many species were domesticated, and how widespread the practice became.
* 10,000 BC – 9000 BC:
Agriculture
Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...
in the
Fertile Crescent
The Fertile Crescent () is a crescent-shaped region in the Middle East, spanning modern-day Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria, together with northern Kuwait, south-eastern Turkey, and western Iran. Some authors also include ...
* 10,000 BC – 9000 BC:
Domestication of sheep in
Southwest Asia
West Asia (also called Western Asia or Southwest Asia) is the westernmost region of Asia. As defined by most academics, UN bodies and other institutions, the subregion consists of Anatolia, the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Mesopotamia, the Armenia ...
(followed shortly by pigs, goats and cattle)
* 9500 BC – 9000 BC:
Oldest known surviving building –
Göbekli Tepe
Göbekli Tepe (, ; Kurdish: or , 'Wish Hill') is a Neolithic archaeological site in Upper Mesopotamia (''al-Jazira'') in modern-day Turkey. The settlement was inhabited from around to at least , during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic. It is famou ...
, in
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
* 9000 BC – 6000 BC:
Domestication of rice in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
* 9000 BC:
Mudbrick
Mudbrick or mud-brick, also known as unfired brick, is an air-dried brick, made of a mixture of mud (containing loam, clay, sand and water) mixed with a binding material such as rice husks or straw. Mudbricks are known from 9000 BCE.
From ...
s (unfired bricks), and clay
mortar in
Jericho
Jericho ( ; , ) is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, and the capital of the Jericho Governorate. Jericho is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It had a population of 20,907 in 2017.
F ...
.
* 8400 BC: Oldest known water
well
A well is an excavation or structure created on the earth by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...
in
Cyprus
Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...
.
* 8040–7510 BC: The
Pesse canoe
The Pesse canoe is the world's List_of_surviving_ancient_ships , oldest-known boat. Carbon dating indicates that the boat was constructed during the early Mesolithic period between 8040 BC and 7510 BC. It is now in the Drents Museum in Assen, Ne ...
is the oldest boat we have found, while early human habitation of Crete and Australia make clear human seafaring goes back tens or hundreds of thousands of years. (see above)
* 8000–7500 BC:
Proto-city
A proto-city is a large, dense Neolithic settlement that is largely distinguished from a city by its lack of planning and centralized rule. The term mega-sites is also used. While the precise classification of many sites considered proto-cities ...
– large permanent settlements, such as
Tell es-Sultan (Jericho) and
Çatalhöyük
Çatalhöyük (English: Chatalhoyuk ; ; also ''Çatal Höyük'' and ''Çatal Hüyük''; from Turkish language, Turkish ''çatal'' "fork" + ''höyük'' "tumulus") is a Tell (archaeology), tell (a mounded accretion resulting from long-term huma ...
, Turkey.
* 8000–5000 BC: Domestication of
potatoes
The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...
, in southern
Peru
Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
and northwestern
Bolivia
Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...
by pre-Columbian farmers, around
Lake Titicaca
Lake Titicaca (; ; ) is a large freshwater lake in the Andes mountains on the border of Bolivia and Peru. It is often called the highest navigable lake in the world. Titicaca is the largest lake in South America, both in terms of the volume of ...
.
* 7000 BC:
Alcohol fermentation – specifically
mead
Mead (), also called honey wine, and hydromel (particularly when low in alcohol content), is an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey mixed with water, and sometimes with added ingredients such as fruits, spices, grains, or hops. The alco ...
, in China
* 7000 BC:
Sled dog
A sled dog is a dog trained and used to pull a land vehicle in Dog harness, harness, most commonly a Dog sled, sled over snow.
Sled dogs have been used in the Arctic for at least 8,000 years and, along with watercraft, were the only transpor ...
and
Dog sled
A dog sled or dog sleigh is a sled pulled by one or more sled dogs used to travel over ice and through snow, a practice known as mushing. Numerous types of sleds are used, depending on their function. They can be used for Sled dog racing, dog sl ...
, in Siberia.
* 7000 BC – 3300 BC:
Tanned leather in
Mehrgarh
Mehrgarh is a Neolithic archaeological site situated on the Kacchi Plain of Balochistan, Pakistan, Balochistan in Pakistan. It is located near the Bolan Pass, to the west of the Indus River and between the modern-day Pakistani cities of Quetta, ...
, Pakistan.
* 6500 BC: Evidence of
lead smelting
Plants for the production of lead are generally referred to as lead smelters. Primary lead production begins with sintering. Concentrated lead ore is fed into a sintering machine with iron, silica, limestone fluxes, coke, soda ash, pyrite, zinc ...
in
Çatalhöyük
Çatalhöyük (English: Chatalhoyuk ; ; also ''Çatal Höyük'' and ''Çatal Hüyük''; from Turkish language, Turkish ''çatal'' "fork" + ''höyük'' "tumulus") is a Tell (archaeology), tell (a mounded accretion resulting from long-term huma ...
,
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
* 6000 BC:
Kiln
A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or Chemical Changes, chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects m ...
in
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...
(Iraq)
* 6th millennium BC:
Irrigation
Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...
in
Khuzistan
Khuzestan province () is one of the 31 Provinces of Iran. Located in the southwest of the country, the province borders Iraq and the Persian Gulf, covering an area of . Its capital is the city of Ahvaz. Since 2014, it has been part of Iran's ...
,
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
* 6000 BC – 3200 BC:
Proto-writing
Proto-writing consists of visible marks communication, communicating limited information. Such systems emerged from earlier traditions of symbol systems in the early Neolithic, as early as the 7th millennium BC in History of China, China a ...
in present-day Egypt, Iraq, Romania, China, India and Pakistan.
* 5900 – 5600 BC: Oldest evidence of
salt production
In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as ro ...
found in Southeastern Europe, in the countries of
Moldova
Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...
and
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
.
* 5500 – 5200 BC: Oldest evidence of
cheese
Cheese is a type of dairy product produced in a range of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk (usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats or sheep). During prod ...
found, in
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
and on the
Dalmatian coast of
Croatia
Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
.
* 5500 BC:
Sailing
Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, Windsurfing, windsurfer, or Kitesurfing, kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (Land sa ...
- pottery depictions of sail boats, in
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...
, and later
ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...
[The sea-craft of prehistory, p76, by Paul Johnstone, Routledge, 1980]
* 5000 BC:
Copper smelting in
Serbia
, image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg
, national_motto =
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg
, national_anthem = ()
, image_map =
, map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
.
* 5000 BC:
Seawall
A seawall (or sea wall) is a form of coastal defense constructed where the sea, and associated coastal processes, impact directly upon the landforms of the coast. The purpose of a seawall is to protect areas of human habitation, conservation, ...
in
Tel Hreiz, near Haifa, Israel.
* 5th millennium BC:
Lacquer
Lacquer is a type of hard and usually shiny coating or finish applied to materials such as wood or metal. It is most often made from resin extracted from trees and waxes and has been in use since antiquity.
Asian lacquerware, which may be c ...
in China
* 5000 BC:
Cotton
Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...
thread, in
Mehrgarh
Mehrgarh is a Neolithic archaeological site situated on the Kacchi Plain of Balochistan, Pakistan, Balochistan in Pakistan. It is located near the Bolan Pass, to the west of the Indus River and between the modern-day Pakistani cities of Quetta, ...
, Pakistan, connecting the copper beads of a bracelet.
* 5000 BC – 4500 BC:
Rowing oars in China
* 4500 BC – 3500 BC:
Lost-wax casting
Lost-wax castingalso called investment casting, precision casting, or ''cire perdue'' (; borrowed from French)is the process by which a duplicate sculpture (often a metal, such as silver, gold, brass, or bronze) is cast from an original scul ...
in
Palestine
Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...
[. In ] or the
Indus Valley
The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans- Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in the Western Tibet region of China, flows northwest through the disp ...
* 4400 BC:
Fired bricks in China.
* 4000 BC: Probable time period of the first diamond-mines in the world, in Southern India.
[
]
* 4000 BC: Paved
roads
A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved.
The ...
, in and around the Mesopotamian city of
Ur, Iraq.
* 4000 BC:
Plumbing
Plumbing is any system that conveys fluids for a wide range of applications. Plumbing uses piping, pipes, valves, piping and plumbing fitting, plumbing fixtures, Storage tank, tanks, and other apparatuses to convey fluids. HVAC, Heating and co ...
. The earliest pipes were made of clay, and are found at the Temple of Bel at Nippur in Babylonia.
* 4000 BC: Oldest evidence of
locks, the earliest example discovered in the ruins of
Nineveh
Nineveh ( ; , ''URUNI.NU.A, Ninua''; , ''Nīnəwē''; , ''Nīnawā''; , ''Nīnwē''), was an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia, located in the modern-day city of Mosul (itself built out of the Assyrian town of Mepsila) in northern ...
, the capital of ancient
Assyria
Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , ''māt Aššur'') was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization that existed as a city-state from the 21st century BC to the 14th century BC and eventually expanded into an empire from the 14th century BC t ...
.
* 4000 BC – 3400 BC: Oldest evidence of
wheel
A wheel is a rotating component (typically circular in shape) that is intended to turn on an axle Bearing (mechanical), bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the Simple machine, six simple machin ...
s, found in the countries of
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
, and
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
.
* 3630 BC: Silk garments (
sericulture
Sericulture, or silk farming, is the cultivation of silkworms to produce silk. Although there are several commercial species of silkworms, the caterpillar of the Bombyx mori, domestic silkmoth is the most widely used and intensively studied silkwo ...
) in China
* 3500 BC: Probable first
domestication of the horse
It is not entirely clear how, when or where the domestication of the horse took place. Although horses appeared in Paleolithic cave art as early as 30,000 BCE, these were wild horses and were probably hunted for meat. The clearest evidence o ...
in the Eurasian Steppes.
* 3500 BC: Wine as
general anaesthesia
General anaesthesia (UK) or general anesthesia (US) is medically induced loss of consciousness that renders a patient unarousable even by painful stimuli. It is achieved through medications, which can be injected or inhaled, often with an analges ...
in Sumer.
* 3500 BC:
Seal (emblem)
A seal is a device for making an impression in Sealing wax, wax, clay, paper, or some other medium, including an Paper embossing, embossment on paper, and is also the impression thus made. The original purpose was to authenticate a document, or ...
invented around in the
Near East
The Near East () is a transcontinental region around the Eastern Mediterranean encompassing the historical Fertile Crescent, the Levant, Anatolia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and coastal areas of the Arabian Peninsula. The term was invented in the 20th ...
, at the contemporary sites of
Uruk
Uruk, the archeological site known today as Warka, was an ancient city in the Near East, located east of the current bed of the Euphrates River, on an ancient, now-dried channel of the river in Muthanna Governorate, Iraq. The site lies 93 kilo ...
in southern
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...
and slightly later at
Susa
Susa ( ) was an ancient city in the lower Zagros Mountains about east of the Tigris, between the Karkheh River, Karkheh and Dez River, Dez Rivers in Iran. One of the most important cities of the Ancient Near East, Susa served as the capital o ...
in south-western
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
during the
Proto-Elamite period, and they follow the development of
stamp seal
__NOTOC__
The stamp seal (also impression seal) is a common seal die, frequently carved from stone, known at least since the 6th millennium BC (Halaf culture) and probably earlier. The dies were used to impress their picture or inscription int ...
s in the
Halaf culture
The Halaf culture is a prehistoric period which lasted between about 6100 BC and 5100 BC. The period is a continuous development out of the earlier Pottery Neolithic and is located primarily in the fertile valley of the Khabur (Euphrates), Khabu ...
or slightly earlier.
* 3500 BC:
Ploughing, on a site in
Bubeneč, Czech Republic. Evidence, c. 2800 BC, has also been found at
Kalibangan
Kalibangān is a town located at on the left or southern banks of the Ghaggar (Ghaggar-Hakra River) in Tehsil Pilibangān, between Suratgarh and Hanumangarh in Hanumangarh District, Rajasthan, India 205 km from Bikaner. It is also ident ...
, Indus Valley (modern-day India).
[B. B. Lal, ''India 1947–1997: New Light on the Indus Civilization'']
* 3400 BC – 3100 BC:
Tattoo
A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several tattooing processes ...
s in southern Europe
Bronze Age

The beginning of bronze-smelting coincides with the emergence of the first cities and of writing in the Ancient Near East and the Indus Valley. The
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
starting in Eurasia in the 4th millennia BC and ended, in Eurasia, c.1200 BC.
* Late 4th millennium BC:
Writing
Writing is the act of creating a persistent representation of language. A writing system includes a particular set of symbols called a ''script'', as well as the rules by which they encode a particular spoken language. Every written language ...
– in
Sumer
Sumer () is the earliest known civilization, located in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (now south-central Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age, early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC. ...
and
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
.
* 3300 BC: The first documented
sword
A sword is an edged and bladed weapons, edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter ...
s. They have been found in
Arslantepe, Turkey, are made from
arsenical bronze
Arsenical bronze is an alloy in which arsenic, as opposed to or in addition to tin or other constituent metals, is combined with copper to make bronze. The use of arsenic with copper, either as the secondary constituent or with another component ...
, and are about long.
Some of them are inlaid with
silver
Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...
.
[
* 3300 BC: ]City
A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...
in Uruk
Uruk, the archeological site known today as Warka, was an ancient city in the Near East, located east of the current bed of the Euphrates River, on an ancient, now-dried channel of the river in Muthanna Governorate, Iraq. The site lies 93 kilo ...
, Sumer
Sumer () is the earliest known civilization, located in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (now south-central Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age, early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC. ...
, Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...
(modern-day Iraq).
* 3250 BC: One of the earliest documented hat
A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...
s was worn by a man (nicknamed Ötzi
Ötzi, also called The Iceman, is the natural mummy of a man who lived between 3350 and 3105 BC. Ötzi's remains were discovered on 19 September 1991, in the Ötztal Alps (hence the nickname "Ötzi", ) at the Austria–Italy border. He i ...
) whose body and hat found frozen in a mountain between Austria and Italy. He was found wearing a bearskin cap with a chin strap, made of several hides stitched together, resembling a Russian fur hat without the flaps.
* 3200 BC: Dry Latrine
A latrine is a toilet or an even simpler facility that is used as a toilet within a sanitation system. For example, it can be a communal trench in the earth in a camp to be used as emergency sanitation, a hole in the ground ( pit latrine), or ...
s in the city of Uruk
Uruk, the archeological site known today as Warka, was an ancient city in the Near East, located east of the current bed of the Euphrates River, on an ancient, now-dried channel of the river in Muthanna Governorate, Iraq. The site lies 93 kilo ...
, Iraq, with later dry squat Toilet
A toilet is a piece of sanitary hardware that collects human waste (urine and feces) and sometimes toilet paper, usually for disposal. Flush toilets use water, while dry or non-flush toilets do not. They can be designed for a sitting p ...
s, that added raised fired brick foot platforms, and pedestal toilets, all over clay pipe constructed drains.
* 3200 BC: Earliest actual wheel ever found, the Ljubljana Marshes Wheel, made of wood, in Slovenia
Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...
.
* 3000 BC: Devices functionally equivalent to dice
A die (: dice, sometimes also used as ) is a small, throwable object with marked sides that can rest in multiple positions. Dice are used for generating random values, commonly as part of tabletop games, including dice games, board games, ro ...
, in the form of flat two-sided throwsticks, are seen in the Egyptian game of Senet
Senet or senat (; cf. Coptic language, Coptic , 'passing, afternoon') is a board game from ancient Egypt that consists of ten or more pawns on a 30-square playing board.Crist 2019 p. 107 The earliest representation of senet is dated to 2620 BC ...
. Perhaps the oldest known dice, resembling modern ones, were excavated as part of a backgammon
Backgammon is a two-player board game played with counters and dice on tables boards. It is the most widespread Western member of the large family of tables games, whose ancestors date back at least 1,600 years. The earliest record of backgammo ...
-like game set at the Burnt City, an archeological site in south-eastern Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
, estimated to be from between 2800 and 2500 BC. Later, terracotta dice were used at the Indus Valley site of Mohenjo-daro
Mohenjo-daro (; , ; ) is an archaeological site in Larkana District, Sindh, Pakistan. Built 2500 BCE, it was one of the largest settlements of the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation, and one of the world's earliest major city, cities, contemp ...
(modern-day Pakistan).
* 3000 BC: Tin
Tin is a chemical element; it has symbol Sn () and atomic number 50. A silvery-colored metal, tin is soft enough to be cut with little force, and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, a bar of tin makes a sound, the ...
extraction in Central Asia
Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...
* 3000 BC – 2560 BC: Papyrus
Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, ''Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'' or ''papyruses'') can a ...
in Egypt
* 3000 BC: Reservoir
A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation.
Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...
in Girnar
Girnar is an ancient hill in Junagadh, Gujarat, India. It is one of the holiest pilgrimages of Jains, where the 22nd Tirthankara, Tirthaṅkar, Lord Neminath attained omniscience, and later nirvana at its highest peak (''Neminath Shikhar''), ...
, Indus Valley (modern-day India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
).
* 3000 BC: Receipt
A receipt (also known as a packing list, packing slip, packaging slip, (delivery) docket, shipping list, delivery list, bill of the parcel, Manifest (transportation), manifest, or customer receipt) is a document acknowledging that something h ...
in Ancient Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...
(Iraq
Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
)
* 3000 BC – 2800 BC: Prosthesis
In medicine, a prosthesis (: prostheses; from ), or a prosthetic implant, is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through physical trauma, disease, or a condition present at birth (Congenital, congenital disord ...
first documented in the Ancient Near East
The ancient Near East was home to many cradles of civilization, spanning Mesopotamia, Egypt, Iran (or Persia), Anatolia and the Armenian highlands, the Levant, and the Arabian Peninsula. As such, the fields of ancient Near East studies and Nea ...
, in ancient Egypt and Iran, specifically for an eye prosthetics, the eye found in Iran was likely made of bitumen paste that was covered with a thin layer of gold.
* 3000 BC – 2500 BC: Rhinoplasty
Rhinoplasty (, nose + , to shape), commonly called nose job, medically called nasal reconstruction, is a plastic surgery procedure for altering and reconstructing the human nose, nose. There are two types of plastic surgery used – plastic sur ...
in Egypt.
* 2650 BC: The Ruler
A ruler, sometimes called a rule, scale, line gauge, or metre/meter stick, is an instrument used to make length measurements, whereby a length is read from a series of markings called "rules" along an edge of the device. Usually, the instr ...
, or Measuring rod
A measuring rod is a tool used to physically length measurement, measure lengths and surveying, survey areas of various sizes. Most measuring rods are round or square sectioned; however, they can also be flat boards. Some have markings at regu ...
, in the subdivided Nippur
Nippur (Sumerian language, Sumerian: ''Nibru'', often logogram, logographically recorded as , EN.LÍLKI, "Enlil City;"I. E. S. Edwards, C. J. Gadd, N. G. L. Hammond, ''The Cambridge Ancient History: Prolegomena & Prehistory'': Vol. 1, Part 1, Ca ...
, copper rod, of the Sumerian Civilisation (modern-day Iraq).
* 2600 BC: Planned city
A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...
in Indus Valley (modern-day: India, Pakistan).[Davreu, Robert (1978). "Cities of Mystery: The Lost Empire of the Indus Valley". ''The World's Last Mysteries''. (second edition). Sydney: Reader's Digest. pp. 121-129. .][Kipfer, Barbara Ann (2000). ''Encyclopedic Dictionary of Archaeology''. (Illustrated edition). New York: Springer. p. 229. .]
* 2600 BC: Public sewage and sanitation systems in Indus Valley sites such as Mohenjo-daro
Mohenjo-daro (; , ; ) is an archaeological site in Larkana District, Sindh, Pakistan. Built 2500 BCE, it was one of the largest settlements of the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation, and one of the world's earliest major city, cities, contemp ...
and Rakhigarhi
Rakhigarhi or Rakhi Garhi is a village and an archaeological site in the Hisar District of the northern Indian state of Haryana, situated about 150 km northwest of Delhi. It is located in the Ghaggar River plain, some 27 km from the ...
(modern-day: India, Pakistan).
* 2600 BC: Public bath
Public baths originated when most people in population centers did not have access to private bathing facilities. Though termed "public", they have often been restricted according to gender, religious affiliation, personal membership, and other cr ...
in Mohenjo-daro
Mohenjo-daro (; , ; ) is an archaeological site in Larkana District, Sindh, Pakistan. Built 2500 BCE, it was one of the largest settlements of the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation, and one of the world's earliest major city, cities, contemp ...
, Indus Valley (modern-day Pakistan
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
).
* 2600 BC: Levee
A levee ( or ), dike (American English), dyke (British English; see American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences, spelling differences), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is an elevated ridge, natural ...
in Indus Valley.
* 2600 BC: Balance weights and scales, from the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt
The Fourth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (notated Dynasty IV) is characterized as a "golden age" of the Old Kingdom of Egypt. Dynasty IV lasted from to c. 2498 BC. It was a time of peace and prosperity as well as one during which trade with othe ...
; examples of Deben (unit)
The deben was an ancient Egyptian weight unit.
Early Dynastic Period
The earliest evidence for deben is from the Early Dynastic Period. It was found at the site of Buto in Nile Delta. The weighing stone was uncovered in an archaeological cont ...
balance weights, from reign of Sneferu
Sneferu or Soris (c. 2600 BC) was an ancient Egyptian monarch and the first pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt, during the earlier half of the Old Kingdom period (26th century BC). He introduced major innovations in the design and constructio ...
(c. 2600 BC) have been attributed.
* 2556 BC: Docks
The word dock () in American English refers to one or a group of human-made structures that are involved in the handling of boats or ships (usually on or near a shore). In British English, the term is not used the same way as in American Engli ...
structure in Wadi al-Jarf
Wadi al-Jarf () is an area on the Red Sea coast of Egypt, south of Suez, that is the site of the oldest known artificial harbour in the world, developed about 4500 years ago. It is located at the mouth of the Wadi Araba, a major communication co ...
, Egypt, which was developed by the reign of the Pharaoh Khufu
Khufu or Cheops (died 2566 BC) was an ancient Egyptian monarch who was the second pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt, Fourth Dynasty, in the first half of the Old Kingdom of Egypt, Old Kingdom period (26th century BC). Khufu succeeded his ...
.
* 2500 BC: Puppetry
Puppetry is a form of theatre or performance that involves the manipulation of puppets – wikt:inanimate, inanimate objects, often resembling some type of human or animal figure, that are animated or manipulated by a human called a puppeteer. S ...
in the Indus Valley.
* 2400 BC: Fork
In cutlery or kitchenware, a fork (from 'pitchfork') is a utensil, now usually made of metal, whose long handle terminates in a head that branches into several narrow and often slightly curved tines with which one can spear foods either to h ...
in Bronze Age
The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
Qijia culture
The Qijia culture (2400 BC – 1600 BC) was an early Bronze Age culture distributed around the upper Yellow River region of Gansu (centered in Lanzhou) and eastern Qinghai, China. It is regarded as one of the earliest bronze cultures in China.
...
in China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
* 2400 BC: Copper pipes, the Pyramid of Sahure, an adjoining temple complex at Abusir
Abusir ( ; Egyptian ''pr wsjr'' ' "the resting place of Osiris"; ) is the name given to an ancient Egyptian archaeological pyramid complex comprising the ruins of 4 kings' pyramids dating to the Old Kingdom period, and is part of the ...
, was discovered to have a network of copper drainage pipes.
* 2400 BC: Touchstone in the Indus Valley site of Banawali
Banawali is an archaeological site belonging to the Indus Valley Civilization period in Fatehabad district, Haryana, India and is located about 120 km northeast of Kalibangan and 16 km from Fatehabad. Banawali, which is earlier call ...
(modern-day India).
* 2300 BC: Dictionary
A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged Alphabetical order, alphabetically (or by Semitic root, consonantal root for Semitic languages or radical-and-stroke sorting, radical an ...
in Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...
.
* 2200 BC – 2000 BC: Iron smelting
Smelting is a process of applying heat and a chemical reducing agent to an ore to extract a desired base metal product. It is a form of extractive metallurgy that is used to obtain many metals such as iron, copper, silver, tin, lead and zinc ...
in Kaman-Kalehöyük.
* 2200 BC: Protractor
A goniometer is an instrument that either measures an angle or allows an object to be rotated to a precise angular position. The term goniometry derives from two Greek words, γωνία (''gōnía'') 'angle' and μέτρον (''métron'') ' me ...
, Phase IV, Lothal
Lothal () was one of the southernmost sites of the ancient Indus Valley civilization, Indus Valley civilisation, located in the Bhal region of the Indian state of Gujarat. Construction of the city is believed to have begun around 2200 BCE.
Di ...
, Indus Valley (modern-day India), a Xancus shell cylinder with sawn grooves, at right angles, in its top and bottom surfaces, has been proposed as an angle marking tool.
* 2000 BC: Water clock
A water clock, or clepsydra (; ; ), is a timepiece by which time is measured by the regulated flow of liquid into (inflow type) or out from (outflow type) a vessel, and where the amount of liquid can then be measured.
Water clocks are some of ...
by at least the old Babylonian period (c. 2000 – c. 1600 BC), but possibly earlier from Mohenjo-Daro in the Indus Valley.
* 2000 BC: Chariot
A chariot is a type of vehicle similar to a cart, driven by a charioteer, usually using horses to provide rapid Propulsion, motive power. The oldest known chariots have been found in burials of the Sintashta culture in modern-day Chelyabinsk O ...
in Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
and Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...
* 2000 BC: Fountain
A fountain, from the Latin "fons" ( genitive "fontis"), meaning source or spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect.
Fountains were o ...
in Lagash
Lagash (; cuneiform: LAGAŠKI; Sumerian language, Sumerian: ''Lagaš'') was an ancient city-state located northwest of the junction of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers and east of Uruk, about east of the modern town of Al-Shatrah, Iraq. Lagash ( ...
, Sumer
Sumer () is the earliest known civilization, located in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (now south-central Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age, early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC. ...
.
* 2000 BC: Scissors
Scissors are hand-operated shearing tools. A pair of scissors consists of a pair of blades pivoted so that the sharpened edges slide against each other when the handles (bows) opposite to the pivot are closed. Scissors are used for cutting var ...
, in Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...
.
* 1850 BC: Proto-alphabet (Proto-Sinaitic script
The Proto-Sinaitic script is a Middle Bronze Age writing system known from a small corpus of about Serabit el-Khadim proto-Sinaitic inscriptions, 30-40 inscriptions and fragments from Serabit el-Khadim in the Sinai Peninsula, as well as Wadi el ...
) in Egypt.
* 1600 BC: Surgical treatise appeared in Egypt.
* 1500 BC: Sundial
A sundial is a horology, horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the position of the Sun, apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the ...
in Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...
or Babylonia
Babylonia (; , ) was an Ancient history, ancient Akkadian language, Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Kuwait, Syria and Iran). It emerged as a ...
(modern-day Iraq).
* 1500 BC: Glass
Glass is an amorphous (non-crystalline solid, non-crystalline) solid. Because it is often transparency and translucency, transparent and chemically inert, glass has found widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in window pane ...
manufacture in either Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...
or Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...
.
* 1500 BC: Seed drill
file:7263 Canterbury Agricultural College farm.jpg, Filling a feed-box of a seed drill, Lincoln University (New Zealand), Canterbury Agricultural College farm, 1948
A seed drill is a device used in agriculture that sowing, sows seeds for crops by ...
in Babylonia
Babylonia (; , ) was an Ancient history, ancient Akkadian language, Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Kuwait, Syria and Iran). It emerged as a ...
.[History Channel, ''Where Did It Come From?'' Episode: "Ancient China: Agriculture"]
* 1500 BC: Prosthetic
In medicine, a prosthesis (: prostheses; from ), or a prosthetic implant, is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through physical trauma, disease, or a condition present at birth (Congenital, congenital disord ...
limb in India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
mentioned in vedas (warrior queen vishpala).
* 1400 BC: Rubber
Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds.
Types of polyisoprene ...
, Mesoamerican ballgame
The Mesoamerican ballgame (, , ) was a sport with ritual associations played since at least 1650 BC by the pre-Columbian people of Ancient Mesoamerica. The sport had different versions in different places during the millennia, and a modernized ...
.
* 1400 BC – 1200 BC: Concrete
Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...
in Tiryns
Tiryns ( or ; Ancient Greek: Τίρυνς; Modern Greek: Τίρυνθα) is a Mycenaean archaeological site in Argolis in the Peloponnese, and the location from which the mythical hero Heracles was said to have performed his Twelve Labours. It ...
(Mycenaean Greece), though it was not yet waterproof.
* 1300 BC: Lathe
A lathe () is a machine tool that rotates a workpiece about an axis of rotation to perform various operations such as cutting, sanding, knurling, drilling, deformation, facing, threading and turning, with tools that are applied to the w ...
in Ancient Egypt.
* 1200 BC: Distillation
Distillation, also classical distillation, is the process of separating the component substances of a liquid mixture of two or more chemically discrete substances; the separation process is realized by way of the selective boiling of the mixt ...
is described on Akkadian tablets documenting perfumery operations.
Iron Age
The Late Bronze Age collapse
The Late Bronze Age collapse was a period of societal collapse in the Mediterranean basin during the 12th century BC. It is thought to have affected much of the Eastern Mediterranean and Near East, in particular Egypt, Anatolia, the Aegea ...
occurs around 1200 BC, extinguishing most Bronze-Age Near Eastern cultures, and significantly weakening the rest. This is coincident with the complete collapse of the Indus Valley Civilisation
The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation, was a Bronze Age civilisation in the Northwestern South Asia, northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 Common Era, BCE to 1300 BCE, and in i ...
. This event is followed by the beginning of the Iron Age. We define the Iron Age as ending in 510 BC for the purposes of this article, even though the typical definition is region-dependent (e.g. 510 BC in Greece, 322 BC in India, 200 BC in China), thus being an 800-year period.
* 1100 BC Star catalogue
A star catalogue is an astronomical catalogue that lists stars. In astronomy, many stars are referred to simply by catalogue numbers. There are a great many different star catalogues which have been produced for different purposes over the year ...
— Three Stars Each is the earliest known catalogue in long-running tradition of Babylonian astronomy
Babylonian astronomy was the study or recording of celestial objects during the early history of Mesopotamia. The numeral system used, sexagesimal, was based on 60, as opposed to ten in the modern decimal system. This system simplified the ca ...
, likely drawing on Sumerian and/or Elamite constellations.
* 700 BC: Saddle
A saddle is a supportive structure for a rider of an animal, fastened to an animal's back by a girth. The most common type is equestrian. However, specialized saddles have been created for oxen, camels and other animals.
It is not know ...
(fringed cloths or pads used by Assyrian cavalry).[Beatie, Russel H. ''Saddles'', University of Oklahoma Press, 1981]
, , 9780806115849 P.18-22
* 7th century BC: The royal Library of Ashurbanipal
The Royal Library of Ashurbanipal, named after Ashurbanipal, the last great king of the Assyrian Empire, is a collection of more than 30,000 clay tablets and fragments containing texts of all kinds from the 7th century BCE, including texts in ...
at Nineveh
Nineveh ( ; , ''URUNI.NU.A, Ninua''; , ''Nīnəwē''; , ''Nīnawā''; , ''Nīnwē''), was an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia, located in the modern-day city of Mosul (itself built out of the Assyrian town of Mepsila) in northern ...
had 30,000 clay tablets, in several languages, organized according to shape and separated by content. The first recorded example of a library catalog
A library catalog (or library catalogue in British English) is a register of all bibliography, bibliographic items found in a library or group of libraries, such as a network of libraries at several locations. A catalog for a group of libra ...
.
* 688 BC: Waterproof concrete in use, by the Assyrians. Later, the Romans developed concretes that could set underwater,[Lechtman and Hobbs "Roman Concrete and the Roman Architectural Revolution"] and used concrete extensively for construction from 300 BC to 476 AD.
* 650 BC: Crossbow
A crossbow is a ranged weapon using an Elasticity (physics), elastic launching device consisting of a Bow and arrow, bow-like assembly called a ''prod'', mounted horizontally on a main frame called a ''tiller'', which is hand-held in a similar f ...
in China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
.
* 600 BC: Coins
A coin is a small object, usually round and flat, used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by ...
in Phoenicia
Phoenicians were an Ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, ancient Semitic group of people who lived in the Phoenician city-states along a coastal strip in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily modern Lebanon and the Syria, Syrian ...
(Modern Lebanon) or Lydia
Lydia (; ) was an Iron Age Monarchy, kingdom situated in western Anatolia, in modern-day Turkey. Later, it became an important province of the Achaemenid Empire and then the Roman Empire. Its capital was Sardis.
At some point before 800 BC, ...
.
* Late 7th or early 6th century BC: Wagonway
A wagonway (or waggonway; also known as a horse-drawn railway, or horse-drawn railroad) was a method of rail transport, railway transportation that preceded the steam locomotive and used horses to haul wagons. The terms plateway and tramway (indu ...
called Diolkos
The Diolkos (, from the Greek , "across", and , "portage machine") was a paved trackway near Corinth in Ancient Greece which enabled boats to be moved overland across the Isthmus of Corinth. The shortcut allowed ancient vessels to avoid the ...
across the Isthmus of Corinth
The Isthmus of Corinth ( Greek: Ισθμός της Κορίνθου) is the narrow land bridge which connects the Peloponnese peninsula with the rest of the mainland of Greece, near the city of Corinth. The wide Isthmus was known in the a ...
in Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...
.
* 6th century BC – 10th century AD: High Carbon Steel, produced by the Closed Crucible method, later known as Wootz steel
Wootz steel is a crucible steel characterized by a pattern of bands and high carbon content. These bands are formed by sheets of microscopic carbides within a tempered martensite or pearlite matrix in higher-carbon steel, or by ferrite and pea ...
, of South India
South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of ...
.[Davidson, Hilda Ellis (1998). ''The Sword in Anglo-Saxon England: Its Archaeology and Literature''. Boydell & Brewer Ltd. p. 20. .]
* 6th century BC: University
A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
in Taxila
Taxila or Takshashila () is a city in the Pothohar region of Punjab, Pakistan. Located in the Taxila Tehsil of Rawalpindi District, it lies approximately northwest of the Islamabad–Rawalpindi metropolitan area and is just south of the ...
, of the Indus Valley, then part of the kingdom of Gandhara
Gandhara () was an ancient Indo-Aryan people, Indo-Aryan civilization in present-day northwest Pakistan and northeast Afghanistan. The core of the region of Gandhara was the Peshawar valley, Peshawar (Pushkalawati) and Swat valleys extending ...
, of the Achaemenid Empire
The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire (; , , ), was an Iranian peoples, Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, i ...
(modern-day Pakistan).
* 6th century – 2nd century BC: Systematization of medicine and surgery in the Sushruta Samhita
The ''Sushruta Samhita'' (, ) is an ancient Sanskrit text on medicine and one of the most important such treatises on this subject to survive from the ancient world. The ''Compendium of Sushruta, Suśruta'' is one of the foundational texts of ...
in Vedic Northern India.[Hoernle, A. F. Rudolf (1907). ''Studies in the Medicine of Ancient India: Osteology or the Bones of the Human Body''. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press.][Meulenbeld, Gerrit Jan (1999). ''A History of Indian Medical Literature''. Groningen: Brill (all volumes, 1999-2002). .] Documented procedures to:
** Perform cataract surgery
Cataract surgery, also called lens replacement surgery, is the removal of the natural lens (anatomy), lens of the human eye, eye that has developed a cataract, an opaque or cloudy area. The eye's natural lens is usually replaced with an artific ...
( couching). Babylonian and Egyptian texts, a millennium before, depict and mention oculists, but not the procedure itself.
** Perform Caesarean section
Caesarean section, also known as C-section, cesarean, or caesarean delivery, is the Surgery, surgical procedure by which one or more babies are Childbirth, delivered through an incision in the mother's abdomen. It is often performed because va ...
.
** Construct Prosthetic limb
In medicine, a prosthesis (: prostheses; from ), or a prosthetic implant, is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through physical trauma, disease, or a condition present at birth (congenital disorder). Prosthe ...
s.
** Perform Plastic surgery, though reconstructive nasal surgery
Nasal surgery is a medical procedure designed to treat various conditions that cause nasal blockages in the Respiratory tract, upper respiratory tract, for example Nasal polyp, nasal polyps, inferior turbinate hypertrophy, and Sinusitis, chronic r ...
is described in millennia older Egyptian papyri.[Dwivedi, Girish & Dwivedi, Shridhar (2007)]
''History of Medicine: Sushruta – the Clinician – Teacher par Excellence''
. National Informatics Centre (Government of India).
* Late 6th century BC: Crank motion ( rotary quern) in Carthage
Carthage was an ancient city in Northern Africa, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classic ...
or 5th century BC Celtiberian Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
[Frankel, Rafael (2003): "The Olynthus Mill, Its Origin, and Diffusion: Typology and Distribution", '']American Journal of Archaeology
The ''American Journal of Archaeology'' (AJA), the peer-reviewed journal of the Archaeological Institute of America, has been published since 1897 (continuing the ''American Journal of Archaeology and of the History of the Fine Arts'' founded by t ...
'', Vol. 107, No. 1, pp. 1–21 (17–19) Later during the Roman empire, a mechanism appeared that incorporated a connecting rod.
* Before 5th century BC: Loan deeds in Upanishadic India.
* 500 BC: Lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways.
Ligh ...
in Greece.
Classical antiquity and medieval era
5th century BC
* 500 – 200 BC: Toe stirrup, depicted in 2nd century Buddhist art, of the Sanchi and Bhaja Caves, of the Deccan Satavahana empire
The Satavahanas (; ''Sādavāhana'' or ''Sātavāhana'', IAST: ), also referred to as the Andhras (also ''Andhra-bhṛtyas'' or ''Andhra-jatiyas'') in the Puranas, were an ancient Indian dynasty. Most modern scholars believe that the Satavaha ...
(modern-day India) although may have originated as early as 500 BC.
* 485 BC: Catapult
A catapult is a ballistics, ballistic device used to launch a projectile at a great distance without the aid of gunpowder or other propellants – particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines. A catapult uses the sudden rel ...
by Ajatashatru
Ajatasattu (Pāli: ) or Ajatashatru (Sanskrit: ) in the Buddhist tradition, or Kunika () and Kuniya () in the Jain tradition (reigned c. 492 to 460 BCE, or c. 405 to 373 BCE), was one of the most important kings of the Haryanka dynasty of Mag ...
in Magadha
Magadha was a region and kingdom in ancient India, based in the eastern Ganges Plain. It was one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas during the Second Urbanization period. The region was ruled by several dynasties, which overshadowed, conquered, and ...
, India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
.[Singh, Upinder (2016), ''A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century'', Pearson PLC, ][Jain, Kailash Chand (1991), ''Lord Mahāvīra and His Times'', Motilal Banarsidass, ]
* 485 BC: Scythed chariot by Ajatashatru
Ajatasattu (Pāli: ) or Ajatashatru (Sanskrit: ) in the Buddhist tradition, or Kunika () and Kuniya () in the Jain tradition (reigned c. 492 to 460 BCE, or c. 405 to 373 BCE), was one of the most important kings of the Haryanka dynasty of Mag ...
in Magadha
Magadha was a region and kingdom in ancient India, based in the eastern Ganges Plain. It was one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas during the Second Urbanization period. The region was ruled by several dynasties, which overshadowed, conquered, and ...
, India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
.
* 5th century BC: Cast iron
Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content of more than 2% and silicon content around 1–3%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloying elements determine the form in which its car ...
in Ancient China
The history of China spans several millennia across a wide geographical area. Each region now considered part of the Chinese world has experienced periods of unity, fracture, prosperity, and strife. Chinese civilization first emerged in the Y ...
: Confirmed by archaeological evidence, the earliest cast iron is developed in China by the early 5th century BC during the Zhou dynasty
The Zhou dynasty ( ) was a royal dynasty of China that existed for 789 years from until 256 BC, the longest span of any dynasty in Chinese history. During the Western Zhou period (771 BC), the royal house, surnamed Ji, had military ...
(1122–256 BC), the oldest specimens found in a tomb of Luhe County in Jiangsu
Jiangsu is a coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the List of Chinese administra ...
province.[Wagner (2001), 7, 36–37, 64–68. 335.][Pigott (1999), 177.]
* 480 BC: Spiral stairs (Temple A) in Selinunte
Selinunte ( , ; ; ; ) was a rich and extensive Ancient Greece, ancient Greek city of Magna Graecia on the south-western coast of Sicily in Italy. It was situated between the valleys of the Cottone and Modione rivers. It now lies in the of C ...
, Sicily
Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...
(see also List of ancient spiral stairs)
* By 407 BC: Early descriptions of what may be a Wheelbarrow
A wheelbarrow is a small hand-propelled load-bearing vehicle, usually with just one wheel, designed to be pushed and guided by a single person using two handles at the rear. The term "wheelbarrow" is made of two words: "wheel" and "barrow." " Ba ...
in Greece. First actual depiction of one (tomb mural) shows up in China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
in 118 AD.
* By 400 BC: Camera obscura
A camera obscura (; ) is the natural phenomenon in which the rays of light passing through a aperture, small hole into a dark space form an image where they strike a surface, resulting in an inverted (upside down) and reversed (left to right) ...
described by Mo-tzu (or Mozi
Mozi, personal name Mo Di,
was a Chinese philosopher, logician, and founder of the Mohist school of thought, making him one of the most important figures of the Warring States period (221 BCE). Alongside Confucianism, Mohism became the ...
) in China.
4th century BC
* 4th century BC: Traction trebuchet
The mangonel, also called the traction trebuchet, was a type of trebuchet used in Ancient China starting from the Warring States period, and later across Eurasia by the 6th century AD. Unlike the later trebuchet, counterweight trebuchet, the mang ...
in Ancient China
The history of China spans several millennia across a wide geographical area. Each region now considered part of the Chinese world has experienced periods of unity, fracture, prosperity, and strife. Chinese civilization first emerged in the Y ...
.
* 4th century BC: Gear
A gear or gearwheel is a rotating machine part typically used to transmit rotational motion and/or torque by means of a series of teeth that engage with compatible teeth of another gear or other part. The teeth can be integral saliences or ...
s in Ancient China
The history of China spans several millennia across a wide geographical area. Each region now considered part of the Chinese world has experienced periods of unity, fracture, prosperity, and strife. Chinese civilization first emerged in the Y ...
* 4th century BC: Reed pen
A reed pen ( '; singular ') or bamboo pen () is a writing implement made by cutting and shaping a single Phragmites, reed straw or length of bamboo.
History and manufacture
Reed pens with regular features such as a split nib (pen), nib have ...
s, utilising a split nib, were used to write with ink on Papyrus
Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, ''Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'' or ''papyruses'') can a ...
in Egypt.
* 4th century BC: Nailed Horseshoe
A horseshoe is a product designed to protect a horse hoof from wear. Shoes are attached on the palmar surface (ground side) of the hooves, usually nailed through the insensitive hoof wall that is anatomically akin to the human toenail, altho ...
, with 4 bronze shoes found in an Etruscan tomb.
* 375 BC – 350 BC: Animal-driven rotary mill in Carthage.
* By the late 4th century BC: Corporation
A corporation or body corporate is an individual or a group of people, such as an association or company, that has been authorized by the State (polity), state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law as ...
s in either the Maurya Empire
The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in South Asia with its power base in Magadha. Founded by Chandragupta Maurya around c. 320 BCE, it existed in loose-knit fashion until 185 BCE. The primary source ...
of India or in Ancient Rome (Collegium
A (: ) or college was any association in ancient Rome that Corporation, acted as a Legal person, legal entity. Such associations could be civil or religious.
The word literally means "society", from ("colleague"). They functioned as social cl ...
).
* Late 4th century BC: Cheque
A cheque (or check in American English) is a document that orders a bank, building society, or credit union, to pay a specific amount of money from a person's account to the person in whose name the cheque has been issued. The person writing ...
in the Maurya Empire
The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in South Asia with its power base in Magadha. Founded by Chandragupta Maurya around c. 320 BCE, it existed in loose-knit fashion until 185 BCE. The primary source ...
of India.
* Late 4th century BC: Potassium nitrate
Potassium nitrate is a chemical compound with a sharp, salty, bitter taste and the chemical formula . It is a potassium salt of nitric acid. This salt consists of potassium cations and nitrate anions , and is therefore an alkali metal nit ...
manufacturing and military use in the Seleucid Empire
The Seleucid Empire ( ) was a Greek state in West Asia during the Hellenistic period. It was founded in 312 BC by the Macedonian general Seleucus I Nicator, following the division of the Macedonian Empire founded by Alexander the Great ...
.
* Late 4th century BC: Formal system
A formal system is an abstract structure and formalization of an axiomatic system used for deducing, using rules of inference, theorems from axioms.
In 1921, David Hilbert proposed to use formal systems as the foundation of knowledge in ma ...
s by Pāṇini
(; , ) was a Sanskrit grammarian, logician, philologist, and revered scholar in ancient India during the mid-1st millennium BCE, dated variously by most scholars between the 6th–5th and 4th century BCE.
The historical facts of his life ar ...
in India, possibly during the reign of .
* 4th to 3rd century BC: Zinc production in North-Western India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
during the Maurya Empire
The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in South Asia with its power base in Magadha. Founded by Chandragupta Maurya around c. 320 BCE, it existed in loose-knit fashion until 185 BCE. The primary source ...
. The earliest known zinc mines and smelting sites are from Zawar, near Udaipur
Udaipur (Hindi: , ) (ISO 15919: ''Udayapura'') is a city in the north-western Indian state of Rajasthan, about south of the state capital Jaipur. It serves as the administrative headquarters of Udaipur district. It is the historic capital of t ...
, in Rajasthan
Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...
.
3rd century BC
* 3rd century BC: Analog computer
An analog computer or analogue computer is a type of computation machine (computer) that uses physical phenomena such as Electrical network, electrical, Mechanics, mechanical, or Hydraulics, hydraulic quantities behaving according to the math ...
s in the Hellenistic world (see e.g. the Antikythera mechanism
The Antikythera mechanism ( , ) is an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek hand-powered orrery (model of the Solar System). It is the oldest known example of an Analog computer, analogue computer. It could be used to predict astronomy, astronomical ...
), possibly in Rhodes
Rhodes (; ) is the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and is their historical capital; it is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Administratively, the island forms a separ ...
.
* By at least the 3rd century BC: Archimedes' screw
The Archimedes' screw, also known as the Archimedean screw, hydrodynamic screw, water screw or Egyptian screw, is one of the earliest documented hydraulic machines. It was so-named after the Greek mathematician Archimedes who first described it ...
, one of the earliest hydraulic
Hydraulics () is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counterpart of pneumatics, which concer ...
machines, was first used in the Nile river for irrigation purposes in Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...
* Early 3rd century BC: Canal lock
A lock is a device used for raising and lowering boats, ships and other watercraft between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a chamber in a permanently fixed position i ...
in Canal of the Pharaohs under Ptolemy II
Ptolemy II Philadelphus (, ''Ptolemaîos Philádelphos'', "Ptolemy, sibling-lover"; 309 – 28 January 246 BC) was the pharaoh of Ptolemaic Egypt from 284 to 246 BC. He was the son of Ptolemy I, the Macedonian Greek general of Alexander the G ...
(283–246 BC) in Hellenistic Egypt
The Ptolemaic Kingdom (; , ) or Ptolemaic Empire was an ancient Greek polity based in Ancient Egypt, Egypt during the Hellenistic period. It was founded in 305 BC by the Ancient Macedonians, Macedonian Greek general Ptolemy I Soter, a Diadochi, ...
* 3rd century BC: Cam
Cam or CAM may refer to:
Science and technology
* Cam (mechanism), a mechanical linkage which translates motion
* Camshaft, a shaft with a cam
* Camera or webcam, a device that records images or video
In computing
* Computer-aided manufacturin ...
during the Hellenistic period
In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...
, used in water-driven automata
An automaton (; : automata or automatons) is a relatively self-operating machine, or control mechanism designed to automatically follow a sequence of operations, or respond to predetermined instructions. Some automata, such as bellstrikers i ...
.
* By the 3rd century BC: Water wheel
A water wheel is a machine for converting the kinetic energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a large wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with numerous b ...
. The origin is unclear: Indian Pali texts dating to the 4th century BCE refer to the ''cakkavattaka'', which later commentaries describe as ''arahatta-ghati-yanta'' (machine with wheel-pots attached). Helaine Selin suggests that the device existed in Persia before 350 BC. The clearest description of the water wheel and Liquid-driven escapement is provided by Philo of Byzantium
Philo of Byzantium (, ''Phílōn ho Byzántios'', ), also known as Philo Mechanicus (Latin for "Philo the Engineer"), was a Greek engineer, physicist and writer on mechanics, who lived during the latter half of the 3rd century BC. Although he wa ...
(c. 280 – 220 BC) in the Hellenistic kingdoms.
* 3rd century BC: Gimbal
A gimbal is a pivoted support that permits rotation of an object about an axis. A set of three gimbals, one mounted on the other with orthogonal pivot axes, may be used to allow an object mounted on the innermost gimbal to remain independent of ...
described by Philo of Byzantium
* Late 3rd century BC: Dry dock
A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...
under Ptolemy IV (221–205 BC) in Hellenistic Egypt
The Ptolemaic Kingdom (; , ) or Ptolemaic Empire was an ancient Greek polity based in Ancient Egypt, Egypt during the Hellenistic period. It was founded in 305 BC by the Ancient Macedonians, Macedonian Greek general Ptolemy I Soter, a Diadochi, ...
* 3rd century BC – 2nd century BC: Blast furnace
A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being supplied above atmospheric pressure.
In a ...
in Ancient China
The history of China spans several millennia across a wide geographical area. Each region now considered part of the Chinese world has experienced periods of unity, fracture, prosperity, and strife. Chinese civilization first emerged in the Y ...
: The earliest discovered blast furnaces in China date to the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, although most sites are from the later Han dynasty
The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...
.
2nd century BC
* 2nd century BC: Paper
Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, Textile, rags, poaceae, grasses, Feces#Other uses, herbivore dung, or other vegetable sources in water. Once the water is dra ...
in Han dynasty
The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
*206 BC: Compass
A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself with No ...
in Han dynasty
The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
* Early 2nd century BC: Astrolabe
An astrolabe (; ; ) is an astronomy, astronomical list of astronomical instruments, instrument dating to ancient times. It serves as a star chart and Model#Physical model, physical model of the visible celestial sphere, half-dome of the sky. It ...
invented by Apollonius of Perga
Apollonius of Perga ( ; ) was an ancient Greek geometer and astronomer known for his work on conic sections. Beginning from the earlier contributions of Euclid and Archimedes on the topic, he brought them to the state prior to the invention o ...
.
1st century BC
* 1st century BC: Segmental arch bridge
An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its structural load, loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either si ...
(e.g. Pont-Saint-Martin or Ponte San Lorenzo) in Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
, Roman Republic
The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...
* 1st century BC: News bulletin during the reign of Julius Caesar. A paper form, i.e. the earliest newspaper
A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...
, later appeared during the late Han dynasty in the form of the Dibao
''Dibao'' (''ti-pao''),; also romanized as ''tepao''. sometimes called headmen or constables,Bernhardt, Kathryn ''et al.'' Civil Law in Qing and Republican China', p. 117. Stanford University Press, 1999. . Accessed 4 Nov 2011. were local offici ...
.[Irving Fang, ''A History of Mass Communication: Six Information Revolutions'', Focal Press, 1997, p. 30]
* 1st century BC: Arch dam
An arch dam is a concrete dam that is curved upstream in plan. The arch dam is designed so that the force of the water against it, known as hydrostatic pressure, presses against the arch, causing the arch to straighten slightly and strengtheni ...
( Glanum Dam) in Gallia Narbonensis
Gallia Narbonensis (Latin for "Gaul of Narbonne", from its chief settlement) was a Roman province located in Occitania and Provence, in Southern France. It was also known as Provincia Nostra ("Our Province"), because it was the first ...
, Roman Republic
The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...
(see also List of Roman dams
This is a list of Roman dams and reservoirs. The study of Ancient Rome, Roman dam, dam-building has received little scholarly attention in comparison to their other Roman engineering, civil engineering activities, even though their contributions ...
)
* Before 40 BC: Trip hammer
Trip may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Books
Fictional characters
* Trip (Pokémon), Trip (''Pokémon''), a ''Pokémon'' character
* Trip (Power Rangers), in the American television series ''Time Force Power Rangers''
* Trip, in the 2013 film ...
in China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
[Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 184.]
* 38 BC: An empty shell Glyph for zero
0 (zero) is a number representing an empty quantity. Adding (or subtracting) 0 to any number leaves that number unchanged; in mathematical terminology, 0 is the additive identity of the integers, rational numbers, real numbers, and compl ...
, is found on a Maya numerals
The Mayan numeral system was the system to represent numbers and calendar dates in the Maya civilization. It was a vigesimal (base-20) positional notation, positional numeral system. The numerals are made up of three symbols: Zero number#The ...
Stela, from Chiapa de Corzo, Chiapas
Chiapas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas, is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises Municipalities of Chiapas, 124 municipalities and its capital and large ...
. Independently invented by Claudius Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine, Islamic, and ...
, in the second century CE Egypt, and appearing in the calculations of the Almagest
The ''Almagest'' ( ) is a 2nd-century Greek mathematics, mathematical and Greek astronomy, astronomical treatise on the apparent motions of the stars and planetary paths, written by Ptolemy, Claudius Ptolemy ( ) in Koine Greek. One of the most i ...
.
* 37 BC – 14 BC: Glass blowing developed in Jerusalem.[Avigad, N (1983). ''Discovering Jerusalem''. Nashville. ][Tatton-Brown, V. (1991). "The Roman Empire". In H. Tait (ed.) ''Five Thousand Years of Glass''. pp. 62–97. British Museum Press: London ]
* Before 25 BC: Reverse overshot water wheel by Roman engineers in Rio Tinto, Spain
* 25 BC: Noodle
Noodles are a type of food made from unleavened dough which is either rolled flat and cut, stretched, or extruded, into long strips or strings. Noodles are a staple food in many cultures and made into a variety of shapes. The most common noo ...
in Lajia
Lajia () is a Bronze Age archaeological site in the upper reaches of the Yellow River, on the border between the Chinese provinces of Gansu and Qinghai. As at other sites of the Qijia culture (c. 2300–1500 BCE), the people of Lajia had an agr ...
in China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
1st century AD
* 1st century AD: The aeolipile
An aeolipile, aeolipyle, or eolipile, from the Greek "Αἰόλου πύλη," , also known as a Hero's (or Heron's) engine, is a simple, bladeless radial turbine, radial steam turbine which spins when the central water container is heated. Torq ...
, a simple steam turbine
A steam turbine or steam turbine engine is a machine or heat engine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work utilising a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Par ...
is recorded by Hero of Alexandria.
* 1st century AD: The first use of respiratory protective equipment is documented by Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...
(–79) using animal bladder skins to protect workers in Roman mines from red lead oxide dust.
* 1st century AD: Oldest surviving wine
Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...
.
* 1st century AD: Vending machine
A vending machine is an automated machine that dispenses items such as snacks, beverages, cigarettes, and lottery tickets to consumers after cash, a credit card, or other forms of payment are inserted into the machine or payment is otherwise m ...
s invented by Hero of Alexandria
Hero of Alexandria (; , , also known as Heron of Alexandria ; probably 1st or 2nd century AD) was a Greek mathematician and engineer who was active in Alexandria in Egypt during the Roman era. He has been described as the greatest experimental ...
.
* By the 1st century AD: The double-entry bookkeeping system
Double-entry bookkeeping, also known as double-entry accounting, is a method of bookkeeping that relies on a two-sided accounting entry to maintain financial information. Every entry to an account requires a corresponding and opposite entry to a ...
in the Roman Empire.
2nd century
* 132: Seismometer
A seismometer is an instrument that responds to ground displacement and shaking such as caused by quakes, volcanic eruptions, and explosions. They are usually combined with a timing device and a recording device to form a seismograph. The out ...
and pendulum
A pendulum is a device made of a weight suspended from a pivot so that it can swing freely. When a pendulum is displaced sideways from its resting, equilibrium position, it is subject to a restoring force due to gravity that will accelerate i ...
in Han dynasty
The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
, built by Zhang Heng
Zhang Heng (; AD 78–139), formerly romanization of Chinese, romanized Chang Heng, was a Chinese polymathic scientist and statesman who lived during the Han dynasty#Eastern Han (25–220 AD), Eastern Han dynasty. Educated in the capital citi ...
. It is a large metal urn-shaped instrument which employed either a suspended pendulum or inverted pendulum
An inverted pendulum is a pendulum that has its center of mass above its Lever, pivot point. It is unstable equilibrium, unstable and falls over without additional help. It can be suspended stably in this inverted position by using a control s ...
acting on inertia, like the ground tremors from earthquake
An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...
s, to dislodge a metal ball by a lever trip device.
* 2nd century: Carding
In Textile manufacturing, textile production, carding is a mechanical process that disentangles, cleans and intermixes fibres to produce a continuous web or sliver (textiles), sliver suitable for subsequent processing. This is achieved by passi ...
in India.[Baber (1996), page 57]
3rd century
* By at least the 3rd century: Crystallized sugar in India.
* Early 3rd century: Woodblock printing
Woodblock printing or block printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of textile printing, printing on textiles and later on paper. Each page ...
is invented in Han dynasty
The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
at sometime before 220 AD. This made China become the world's first print culture
Print culture embodies all forms of printed text and other printed forms of visual communication. One prominent scholar of print culture in Europe is Elizabeth Eisenstein, who contrasted the print culture of Europe in the centuries after the ad ...
.
* Late 3rd century – Early 4th century: Water turbine
A water turbine is a rotary machine that converts kinetic energy and potential energy of water into mechanical work.
Water turbines were developed in the 19th century and were widely used for industrial power prior to electrical grids. Now, t ...
in the Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...
in modern-day Tunisia
Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...
.
4th century
* 280 – 550: Chaturanga
Chaturanga (, , ) is an Traditional games of India, ancient Indian Strategy game, strategy board game. It is first known from India around the seventh century AD.
While there is some uncertainty, the prevailing view among chess historians is t ...
, a precursor of Chess
Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...
was invented in India during the Gupta Empire
The Gupta Empire was an Indian empire during the classical period of the Indian subcontinent which existed from the mid 3rd century to mid 6th century CE. At its zenith, the dynasty ruled over an empire that spanned much of the northern Indian ...
.
* 4th century: Roman Dichroic glass
Dichroic glass is glass which can display multiple different colors depending on lighting conditions.
One dichroic material is a modern composite non-translucent glass that is produced by stacking layers of metal oxides which give the glass shift ...
, which displays one of two different colors depending on lighting conditions.
* 4th century: Simple suspension bridge
A simple suspension bridge (also rope bridge, swing bridge (in New Zealand), suspended bridge, hanging bridge and catenary bridge) is a primitive type of bridge in which the deck of the bridge lies on two parallel load-bearing cables that ar ...
, independently invented in Pre-Columbian South America, and the Hindu Kush
The Hindu Kush is an mountain range in Central Asia, Central and South Asia to the west of the Himalayas. It stretches from central and eastern Afghanistan into northwestern Pakistan and far southeastern Tajikistan. The range forms the wester ...
range, of present-day Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
and Pakistan
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
. With Han dynasty travelers noting bridges being constructed from 3 or more vines or 3 ropes.[Needham, Joseph. (1986d). Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology, Part 3, Civil Engineering and Nautics. Taipei: Caves Books Ltd. , 187–189.] Later bridges constructed utilizing cables of iron chains appeared in Tibet.
* 4th century: Fishing reel
A fishing reel is a hand-crank (mechanism), cranked reel used in angling to wind and stow fishing line, typically mounted onto a fishing rod, but may also be used on compound bows or crossbows to retrieve tethered arrows when bowfishing.
Modern ...
in Ancient China
The history of China spans several millennia across a wide geographical area. Each region now considered part of the Chinese world has experienced periods of unity, fracture, prosperity, and strife. Chinese civilization first emerged in the Y ...
: In literary records, the earliest evidence of the fishing reel comes from a 4th-century AD work entitled ''Lives of Famous Immortals''.
* 347: Oil Well
An oil well is a drillhole boring in Earth that is designed to bring petroleum oil hydrocarbons to the surface. Usually some natural gas is released as associated petroleum gas along with the oil. A well that is designed to produce only gas m ...
s and Borehole
A borehole is a narrow shaft bored in the ground, either vertically or horizontally. A borehole may be constructed for many different purposes, including the extraction of water ( drilled water well and tube well), other liquids (such as petr ...
drilling in China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
. Such wells could reach depths of up to 240 m (790 ft).
* 4th century – 5th century: Paddle wheel boat (in ''De rebus bellicis
("On the Things of Wars") is an anonymous work of the 4th or 5th century which suggests remedies for the military and financial problems in the Roman Empire, including a number of fanciful war machines. It was written after the death of Con ...
'') in Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...
5th century
* 400: The construction of the Iron pillar of Delhi in Mathura
Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the states and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located south-east of Delhi; and about from the town of Vrindavan. In ancient ti ...
by the Gupta Empire
The Gupta Empire was an Indian empire during the classical period of the Indian subcontinent which existed from the mid 3rd century to mid 6th century CE. At its zenith, the dynasty ruled over an empire that spanned much of the northern Indian ...
shows the development of rust-resistant ferrous metallurgy in Ancient India, although original texts do not survive to detail the specific processes invented in this period.
* 5th century: The horse collar
A horse collar is a part of a horse harness that is used to distribute the load around a horse's neck and shoulders when pulling a wagon or plough. The collar often supports and pads a pair of curved metal or wooden pieces, called hames, to wh ...
as a fully developed collar harness is developed in Northern and Southern dynasties
The Northern and Southern dynasties () was a period of political division in the history of China that lasted from 420 to 589, following the tumultuous era of the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Eastern Jin dynasty. It is sometimes considered a ...
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
during the 5th century AD.[Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 28.] The earliest depiction of it is a Dunhuang
Dunhuang () is a county-level city in northwestern Gansu Province, Western China. According to the 2010 Chinese census, the city has a population of 186,027, though 2019 estimates put the city's population at about 191,800. Sachu (Dunhuang) was ...
cave mural
A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage.
Word mural in art
The word ''mural'' ...
from the Chinese Northern Wei
Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei ( zh, c=北魏, p=Běi Wèi), Tuoba Wei ( zh, c=拓跋魏, p=Tuòbá Wèi), Yuan Wei ( zh, c=元魏, p=Yuán Wèi) and Later Wei ( zh, t=後魏, p=Hòu Wèi), was an Dynasties of China, impe ...
dynasty, the painting
Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...
dated to 477–499.[Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 322.]
* 5th century – 6th century: Pointed arch bridge ( Karamagara Bridge) in Cappadocia
Cappadocia (; , from ) is a historical region in Central Anatolia region, Turkey. It is largely in the provinces of Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. Today, the touristic Cappadocia Region is located in Nevşehir ...
, Eastern Roman Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...
6th century
* By the 6th century: Incense clock in China.[Schafer (1963), pages 160-161][Bedini (1994), pages 69-80]
* After 500: Charkha (spinning wheel/cotton gin) invented in India (probably during the Vakataka dynasty of Maharashtra, India
Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to the so ...
), between 500 and 1000 A.D.
* 563: Pendentive
In architecture, a pendentive is a constructional device permitting the placing of a circular dome over a square room or of an elliptical dome over a rectangular room. The pendentives, which are triangular segments of a sphere, taper to point ...
dome
A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...
(Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia (; ; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque (; ), is a mosque and former Church (building), church serving as a major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The last of three church buildings to be successively ...
) in Constantinople
Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
, Eastern Roman Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...
* 577: Sulfur matches exist in China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
.
* 589: Toilet paper
Toilet paper (sometimes called toilet/bath/bathroom tissue, or toilet roll) is a tissue paper product primarily used to clean the human anus, anus and surrounding region of Human feces, feces (after defecation), and to clean the external gen ...
in Sui dynasty
The Sui dynasty ( ) was a short-lived Dynasties of China, Chinese imperial dynasty that ruled from 581 to 618. The re-unification of China proper under the Sui brought the Northern and Southern dynasties era to a close, ending a prolonged peri ...
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
, first mentioned by the official Yan Zhitui
Yan Zhitui (, 531–591?) courtesy name Jie () was a Chinese calligrapher, painter, musician, writer, philosopher and politician who served four different Chinese states during the late Northern and Southern dynasties: the Liang dynasty in ...
(531–591), with full evidence of continual use in subsequent dynasties.[Needham, Volume 5, Part 1, 123.]
7th century
* 619: Toothbrush
A toothbrush is a special type of brush used to clean the Human tooth, teeth, gingiva, gums, and tongue. It consists of a head of tightly clustered bristles, atop of which toothpaste can be applied, mounted on a handle (grip), handle which facil ...
in China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
during the Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...
* 672: Greek fire
Greek fire was an incendiary weapon system used by the Byzantine Empire from the seventh to the fourteenth centuries. The recipe for Greek fire was a closely-guarded state secret; historians have variously speculated that it was based on saltp ...
in Constantinople
Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
, Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...
: Greek fire, an incendiary weapon likely based on petroleum
Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring un ...
or naphtha
Naphtha (, recorded as less common or nonstandard in all dictionaries: ) is a flammable liquid hydrocarbon mixture. Generally, it is a fraction of crude oil, but it can also be produced from natural-gas condensates, petroleum distillates, and ...
, is invented by Kallinikos, a Lebanese Greek refugee from Baalbek
Baalbek (; ; ) is a city located east of the Litani River in Lebanon's Beqaa Valley, about northeast of Beirut. It is the capital of Baalbek-Hermel Governorate. In 1998, the city had a population of 82,608. Most of the population consists of S ...
, as described by Theophanes. However, the historicity and exact chronology of this account is dubious, and it could be that Kallinikos merely introduced an improved version of an established weapon.
* 7th century: Banknote
A banknote or bank notealso called a bill (North American English) or simply a noteis a type of paper money that is made and distributed ("issued") by a bank of issue, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes were originally issued by commerc ...
in Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
: The banknote is first developed in China during the Tang and Song
A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...
dynasties, starting in the 7th century. Its roots are in merchant receipt
A receipt (also known as a packing list, packing slip, packaging slip, (delivery) docket, shipping list, delivery list, bill of the parcel, Manifest (transportation), manifest, or customer receipt) is a document acknowledging that something h ...
s of deposit during the Tang dynasty (618–907), as merchants
A merchant is a person who trades in goods produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Merchants have been known for as long as humans have engaged in trade and commerce. Merchants and merchant networks operated i ...
and wholesaler
Wholesaling or distributing is the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional or other professional business users; or to other wholesalers (wholesale businesses) and related subordinated services. In ...
s desire to avoid the heavy bulk of copper coinage in large commercial transactions.[Ebrey, Walthall, and Palais (2006), 156.][Bowman (2000), 105.][Gernet (1962), 80.]
* 7th century: Porcelain
Porcelain (), also called china, is a ceramic material made by heating Industrial mineral, raw materials, generally including kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The greater strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to oth ...
in Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
: True porcelain is manufactured in northern China from roughly the beginning of the Tang dynasty in the 7th century, while true porcelain was not manufactured in southern China until about 300 years later, during the early 10th century.
8th century
9th century
* 9th century: Gunpowder
Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, charcoal (which is mostly carbon), and potassium nitrate, potassium ni ...
in Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
: Gunpowder is, according to prevailing academic consensus, discovered in the 9th century by Chinese alchemists searching for an elixir of immortality
The elixir of life (Medieval Latin: ' ), also known as elixir of immortality, is a potion that supposedly grants the drinker eternal life and/or eternal youth. This elixir was also said to cure all diseases. Alchemists in various ages and cu ...
.[Jack Kelly ''Gunpowder: Alchemy, Bombards, and Pyrotechnics: The History of the Explosive that Changed the World'', Perseus Books Group: 2005, , 9780465037223: pp. 2-5] Evidence of gunpowder's first use in China comes from the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (618–907). The earliest known recorded recipes for gunpowder are written by Zeng Gongliang, Ding Du, and Yang Weide in the ''Wujing Zongyao
The ''Wujing Zongyao'' (), sometimes rendered in English as the ''Complete Essentials for the Military Classics'', is a Chinese military compendium written from around 1040 to 1044.
The book was compiled during the Northern Song dynasty by Ze ...
'', a military manuscript compiled in 1044 during the Song dynasty
The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...
(960–1279).[Gernet (1996), 311.]
* 9th century: Playing card
A playing card is a piece of specially prepared card stock, heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic that is marked with distinguishing motifs. Often the front (face) and back of each card has a f ...
in Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
10th century
* 10th century: Fire lance
The fire lance () was a gunpowder weapon used by lighting it on fire, and is the ancestor of modern firearms. It first appeared in 10th–12th century China and was used to great effect during the Jin-Song Wars. It began as a small pyrotechnic de ...
in Song dynasty
The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
, developed in the 10th century with a tube of first bamboo and later on metal that shot a weak gunpowder
Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, charcoal (which is mostly carbon), and potassium nitrate, potassium ni ...
blast of flame and shrapnel, its earliest depiction is a painting found at Dunhuang
Dunhuang () is a county-level city in northwestern Gansu Province, Western China. According to the 2010 Chinese census, the city has a population of 186,027, though 2019 estimates put the city's population at about 191,800. Sachu (Dunhuang) was ...
. Fire lance is the earliest firearm
A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions).
The first firearms originate ...
in the world and one of the earliest gunpowder weapons.
* 10th century: Fireworks
Fireworks are Explosive, low explosive Pyrotechnics, pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large numbe ...
in Song dynasty
The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
: Fireworks first appear in China during the Song dynasty (960–1279), in the early age of gunpowder
Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, charcoal (which is mostly carbon), and potassium nitrate, potassium ni ...
. Fireworks could be purchased from market vendors; these were made of sticks of bamboo
Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...
packed with gunpowder.
* 974: Fountain pen
A fountain pen is a writing instrument that uses a metal nib (pen), nib to apply Fountain pen ink, water-based ink, or special pigment ink—suitable for fountain pens—to paper. It is distinguished from earlier dip pens by using an internal r ...
: invented at the request of al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah
Abu Tamim Ma'ad al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah (; 26 September 932 – 19 December 975) was the fourth Fatimid caliph and the 14th Ismaili imam, reigning from 953 to 975. It was during his caliphate that the center of power of the Fatimid dynasty was m ...
in Arab Egypt.
11th century
* 11th century: Early versions of the Bessemer process
The Bessemer process was the first inexpensive industrial process for the mass production of steel from molten pig iron before the development of the open hearth furnace. The key principle is steelmaking, removal of impurities and undesired eleme ...
are developed in China.
* 11th century: Endless power-transmitting chain drive by Su Song
Su Song (, 1020–1101), courtesy name Zirong (), was a Chinese polymathic scientist and statesman who lived during the Song dynasty (960–1279). He exceled in numerous fields including but not limited to mathematics, astronomy, cartography, ...
for the development an astronomical clock (the Cosmic Engine)[Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 111.]
* 11th century: Calico
Calico (; in British usage since 1505) is a heavy plain-woven textile made from unbleached, and often not fully processed, cotton. It may also contain unseparated husk parts. The fabric is far coarser than muslin, but less coarse and thick than ...
was developed in Calicut
Kozhikode (), also known as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. Known as the City of Spices, Kozhikode is listed among the City of Literature, UNESCO's Cities of Literature.
It is the nineteenth large ...
, India.[''Encyclopædia Britannica'' (2008)]
"calico"
* 1088: Movable type
Movable type (US English; moveable type in British English) is the system and technology of printing and typography that uses movable Sort (typesetting), components to reproduce the elements of a document (usually individual alphanumeric charac ...
in Song dynasty
The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
: The first record of a movable type system is in the ''Dream Pool Essays
''The Dream Pool Essays'' (or ''Dream Torrent Essays'') was an extensive book written by the Chinese polymath and statesman Shen Kuo (1031–1095), published in 1088 during the Song dynasty (960–1279) of China. Shen compiled this encyclopedi ...
'', which attributes the invention of the movable type to Bi Sheng
Bi Sheng (972–1051) was a Chinese artisan and engineer during the Song dynasty (960–1279), who invented the world's first movable type. Bi's system used fired clay tiles, one for each Chinese character, and was invented between 1039 and 1048 ...
.[Gernet (1996), 335.][Bowman (2000), 599.][Day & McNeil (1996), 70.]
12th century
13th century
* 13th century: Rocket
A rocket (from , and so named for its shape) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using any surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely ...
for military and recreational uses date back to at least 13th-century China.
* 13th century: The earliest form of mechanical escapement, the verge escapement
The verge (or crown wheel) escapement is the earliest known type of mechanical escapement, the mechanism in a mechanical clock that controls its rate by allowing the gear train to advance at regular intervals or 'ticks'. Verge escapements were us ...
in Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
.
* 13th century: Button
A button is a fastener that joins two pieces of fabric together by slipping through a loop or by sliding through a buttonhole.
In modern clothing and fashion design, buttons are commonly made of plastic but also may be made of metal, wood, or ...
s (combined with buttonholes) as a functional fastening for closing clothes appear first in Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
.
* 13th century: Explosive bomb in Jin dynasty Manchuria: Explosive bombs are used in 1221 by the Jin dynasty against a Song dynasty
The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...
city. The first accounts of bombs made of cast iron shells packed with explosive gunpowder are documented in the 13th century in China and are called "thunder-crash bombs", coined during a Jin dynasty naval battle in 1231.[Needham (1986), Volume 5, Part 7, 171.]
* 13th century: Hand cannon
The hand cannon ( or ), also known as the gonne or handgonne, is the first true firearm and the successor of the fire lance. It is the oldest type of small arms, as well as the most mechanically simple form of metal barrel firearms. Unlike match ...
in Yuan dynasty
The Yuan dynasty ( ; zh, c=元朝, p=Yuáncháo), officially the Great Yuan (; Mongolian language, Mongolian: , , literally 'Great Yuan State'), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after Div ...
China: The earliest hand cannon dates to the 13th century based on archaeological evidence from a Heilongjiang
Heilongjiang is a province in northeast China. It is the northernmost and easternmost province of the country and contains China's northernmost point (in Mohe City along the Amur) and easternmost point (at the confluence of the Amur and Us ...
excavation. There is also written evidence in the ''Yuanshi'' (1370) on Li Tang, an ethnic Jurchen commander under the Yuan dynasty who in 1288 suppresses the rebellion of the Christian prince Nayan with his "gun-soldiers" or ''chongzu'', this being the earliest known event where this phrase is used.
* 13th century: Earliest documented snow goggles
Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes.
It consists of frozen crystalline water througho ...
, a type of sunglasses, made of flattened walrus or caribou ivory are used by the Inuit peoples in the arctic regions of North America. In China, the first sunglasses consisting of flat panes of smoky quartz are documented.
* 13th century - 14th century: Worm gear cotton gin in India.
* 1277: Land mine
A land mine, or landmine, is an explosive weapon often concealed under or camouflaged on the ground, and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets as they pass over or near it. Land mines are divided into two types: anti-tank mines, wh ...
in Song dynasty
The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
: Textual evidence suggests that the first use of a land mine in history is by a Song dynasty brigadier general known as Lou Qianxia, who uses an 'enormous bomb' (''huo pao'') to kill Mongol soldiers invading Guangxi
Guangxi,; officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam (Hà Giang Province, Hà Giang, Cao Bằn ...
in 1277.
* 1286: Eyeglasses
Glasses, also known as eyeglasses (American English), spectacles (Commonwealth English), or colloquially as specs, are Visual perception, vision eyewear with clear or tinted lens (optics), lenses mounted in a frame that holds them in front ...
in Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
14th century
* Early 14th century – Mid 14th century: Multistage rocket
A multistage rocket or step rocket is a launch vehicle that uses two or more rocket ''stages'', each of which contains its own engines and propellant. A ''tandem'' or ''serial'' stage is mounted on top of another stage; a ''parallel'' stage is ...
in Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
described in '' Huolongjing'' by Jiao Yu
Jiao Yu () was a Chinese military general, philosopher, and writer of the Yuan dynasty and early Ming dynasty under Zhu Yuanzhang, who founded the dynasty and became known as the Hongwu Emperor. He was entrusted by Zhu as a leading artillery ...
.
* By at least 1326: Cannon
A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during th ...
in Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
* 14th century: Painting Canvas
Canvas is an extremely durable Plain weave, plain-woven Cloth, fabric used for making sails, tents, Tent#Marquees and larger tents, marquees, backpacks, Shelter (building), shelters, as a Support (art), support for oil painting and for other ite ...
was first used in Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
.
* 14th century: Jacob's staff
The term Jacob's staff is used to refer to several things, also known as cross-staff, a ballastella, a fore-staff, a ballestilla, or a balestilha. In its most basic form, a Jacob's staff is a stick or pole with length markings; most staffs ar ...
described by Levi ben Gerson
* 14th century: Naval mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive weapon placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Similar to anti-personnel mine, anti-personnel and other land mines, and unlike purpose launched naval depth charges, they are ...
in Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
: Mentioned in the '' Huolongjing'' military manuscript written by Jiao Yu
Jiao Yu () was a Chinese military general, philosopher, and writer of the Yuan dynasty and early Ming dynasty under Zhu Yuanzhang, who founded the dynasty and became known as the Hongwu Emperor. He was entrusted by Zhu as a leading artillery ...
(fl. 14th to early 15th century) and Liu Bowen (1311–1375), describing naval mines used at sea or on rivers and lakes, made of wrought iron
Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.05%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4.5%), or 0.25 for low carbon "mild" steel. Wrought iron is manufactured by heating and melting high carbon cast iron in an ...
and enclosed in an ox bladder. A later model is documented in Song Yingxing
Song Yingxing (Traditional Chinese: 宋應星; Simplified Chinese: 宋应星; Wade Giles: Sung Ying-Hsing; 1587–1666 AD) was a Chinese scientist and encyclopedist who lived during the late Ming Dynasty (1368–1644). He was the author of '' ...
's encyclopedia written in 1637.
* 14th century: Bidriware
Bidriware is a metal handicraft from the city of Bidar in Karnataka, India. It was developed in the 14th century C.E. during the rule of the Bahmani Sultans. The term "bidriware" originates from the township of Bidar, which is still the chief c ...
in the Bahmani Sultanate
The Bahmani Kingdom or the Bahmani Sultanate was a late medieval Persianate kingdom that ruled the Deccan plateau in India. The first independent Muslim sultanate of the Deccan, the Bahmani Kingdom came to power in 1347 during the rebellio ...
in India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
.
15th century
* Early 15th century: Coil spring
A tension coil spring
A coil spring is a mechanical device that typically is used to store energy and subsequently release it, to absorb shock, or to maintain a force between contacting surfaces. It is made of an elastic material formed into the ...
in Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
[, p.126-127]
* 15th century: Mainspring
A mainspring is a spiral torsion spring of metal ribbon—commonly spring steel—used as a power source in mechanical watches, some clocks, and other clockwork mechanisms. ''Winding'' the timepiece, by turning a knob or key, stores energy in ...
in Europe
* 15th century: Rifle
A rifle is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting and higher stopping power, with a gun barrel, barrel that has a helical or spiralling pattern of grooves (rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus o ...
in Europe
* 1420s: Brace in Flanders
Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...
, Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...
[ White, Lynn (1962): "Medieval Technology and Social Change", At the Clarendon Press, Oxford, p. 112]
* 1439: Printing press
A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a printing, print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in whi ...
in Mainz, Germany: The printing press is invented in the Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...
by Johannes Gutenberg
Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg ( – 3 February 1468) was a German inventor and Artisan, craftsman who invented the movable type, movable-type printing press. Though movable type was already in use in East Asia, Gutenberg's inven ...
before 1440, based on existing screw press
A screw press is a type of machine press in which the ram is driven up and down by a screw. The screw shaft can be driven by a handle or a wheel. It works by using a coarse screw to convert the rotation of the handle or drive-wheel into a small d ...
es. The first confirmed record of a press appeared in a 1439 lawsuit
A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today ...
against Gutenberg.[Meggs, Philip B. A History of Graphic Design. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1998. (pp 58–69) ]
* Mid 15th century: The Arquebus
An arquebus ( ) is a form of long gun that appeared in Europe and the Ottoman Empire during the 15th century. An infantryman armed with an arquebus is called an arquebusier.
The term ''arquebus'' was applied to many different forms of firearms ...
(also spelled Harquebus) is invented, possibly in Spain.
* 1480s: Mariner's astrolabe
The mariner's astrolabe, also called sea astrolabe, was an inclinometer used to determine the latitude of a ship at sea by measuring the sun's noon altitude (declination) or the meridian altitude of a star of known declination. Not an astrolabe ...
in Portuguese circumnavigation of Africa
Early modern era
16th century
* 16th century: Chintz
Chintz () is a woodblock printed, painted, stained or glazed calico textile that originated in Golconda (present day Hyderabad, India) in the 16th century. The cloth is printed with designs featuring flowers and other patterns in different colo ...
or printed
Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and Printmaking, images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabon ...
clothing in Golconda
Golconda is a fortified citadel and ruined city located on the western outskirts of Hyderabad, Telangana, India. The fort was originally built by Kakatiya ruler Pratāparudra in the 11th century out of mud walls. It was ceded to the Bahmani ...
, India
* 16th century: Hookah
A hookah (also see #Names and etymology, other names), shisha, or waterpipe is a single- or multi-stemmed instrument for heating or vaporizing and then smoking either tobacco, flavored tobacco (often ''muʽassel''), or sometimes Cannabis (drug ...
by Irfan Shaikh, at the court of the Mughal emperor Akbar
Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expa ...
I (15421605).
* 1560: Floating dry dock in Venice
Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
, Venetian Republic
The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...
* 1569: Mercator Projection map created by Gerardus Mercator
Gerardus Mercator (; 5 March 1512 – 2 December 1594) was a Flemish people, Flemish geographer, cosmographer and Cartography, cartographer. He is most renowned for creating the Mercator 1569 world map, 1569 world map based on a new Mercator pr ...
* 1589: Stocking frame
A stocking frame was a mechanical knitting machine used in the textiles industry. It was invented by William Lee of Calverton near Nottingham in 1589. Its use, known traditionally as framework knitting, was the first major stage in the mechanis ...
: Invented by William Lee.
* 1594: Backstaff
The backstaff is a celestial navigation, navigational instrument that was used to measure the Horizontal coordinate system#Altitude, altitude of a astronomical object, celestial body, in particular the Sun or Moon. When observing the Sun, users ...
: Invented by Captain John Davis.
* By at least 1597: Revolver
A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...
: Invented by Hans Stopler.
17th century
* 1605: Newspaper
A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...
(''Relation
Relation or relations may refer to:
General uses
* International relations, the study of interconnection of politics, economics, and law on a global level
* Interpersonal relationship, association or acquaintance between two or more people
* ...
''): Johann Carolus
Johann Carolus (26 March 1575 − 15 August 1634) was a German publisher of the first newspaper, called ''Relation aller Fürnemmen und gedenckwürdigen Historien'' (). The ''Relation'' is recognised by the World Association of Newspapers, as ...
in Strassburg
Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...
(see also List of the oldest newspapers
This list of the oldest newspapers sorts the newspapers of the world by the date of their first publication. The earliest newspapers date to Early modern Europe, 17th century Europe when printing, printed periodicals began rapidly to replace the ...
)[World Association of Newspapers]
"Newspapers: 400 Years Young!"
[Weber, Johannes (2006): "Strassburg, 1605: The Origins of the Newspaper in Europe", ''German History'', Vol. 24, No. 3, pp. 387–412 (396f.)]
* 1608: Telescope
A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, Absorption (electromagnetic radiation), absorption, or Reflection (physics), reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally, it was an optical instrument using len ...
: Patent applied for by Hans Lippershey
Hans Lipperhey ( – buried 29 September 1619), also known as Johann Lippershey or simply Lippershey, was a Germany, German-Netherlands, Dutch Glasses, spectacle-maker. He is commonly associated with the invention of the telescope, because he was ...
. Actual inventor unknown since it seemed to already be a common item being offered by the spectacle makers in the Netherlands with Jacob Metius Jacob (Jacobus; sometimes James) Metius (after 1571–1628) was a Dutch instrument-maker and a specialist in grinding lenses. He is primarily known for the patent application he made for an optical telescope in October 1608, a few weeks after ...
also applying for patent and the son of Zacharias Janssen
Zacharias Janssen; also Zacharias Jansen or Sacharias Jansen; 1585 – pre-1632) was a Dutch spectacle-maker who lived most of his life in Middelburg. He is associated with the invention of the first optical telescope and/or the first truly ...
making a claim 47 years later that his father invented it.
* 1620: Compound microscopes, which combine an objective lens
In optical engineering, an objective is an optical element that gathers light from an object being observed and focuses the light rays from it to produce a real image of the object. Objectives can be a single lens or mirror, or combinations of ...
with an eyepiece
An eyepiece, or ocular lens, is a type of lens that is attached to a variety of optical devices such as Optical telescope, telescopes and microscopes. It is named because it is usually the lens that is closest to the eye when someone looks thro ...
to view a real image
{{citations needed, date=June 2019
In optics, an ''image'' is defined as the collection of focus points of light rays coming from an object. A real image is the collection of focus points actually made by converging/diverging rays, while a ...
, first appear in Europe. Apparently derived from the telescope, actual inventor unknown, variously attributed to Zacharias Janssen
Zacharias Janssen; also Zacharias Jansen or Sacharias Jansen; 1585 – pre-1632) was a Dutch spectacle-maker who lived most of his life in Middelburg. He is associated with the invention of the first optical telescope and/or the first truly ...
(his son claiming it was invented in 1590), Cornelis Drebbel
Cornelis Jacobszoon Drebbel (; 1572 – 7 November 1633) was a Dutch engineer and inventor. He was the builder of the first operational submarine in 1620 and an innovator who contributed to the development of measurement and control systems, opti ...
, and Galileo Galilei
Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642), commonly referred to as Galileo Galilei ( , , ) or mononymously as Galileo, was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a poly ...
.
* 1630: Slide rule
A slide rule is a hand-operated mechanical calculator consisting of slidable rulers for conducting mathematical operations such as multiplication, division, exponents, roots, logarithms, and trigonometry. It is one of the simplest analog ...
: invented by William Oughtred
William Oughtred (5 March 1574 – 30 June 1660), also Owtred, Uhtred, etc., was an English mathematician and Anglican clergyman.'Oughtred (William)', in P. Bayle, translated and revised by J.P. Bernard, T. Birch and J. Lockman, ''A General ...
* 1642: Mechanical calculator
A mechanical calculator, or calculating machine, is a mechanical device used to perform the basic operations of arithmetic automatically, or a simulation like an analog computer or a slide rule. Most mechanical calculators were comparable in si ...
. The Pascaline is built by Blaise Pascal
Blaise Pascal (19June 162319August 1662) was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher, and Catholic Church, Catholic writer.
Pascal was a child prodigy who was educated by his father, a tax collector in Rouen. His earliest ...
.
* 1643: Barometer
A barometer is a scientific instrument that is used to measure air pressure in a certain environment. Pressure tendency can forecast short term changes in the weather. Many measurements of air pressure are used within surface weather analysis ...
: invented by Evangelista Torricelli
Evangelista Torricelli ( ; ; 15 October 160825 October 1647) was an Italian people, Italian physicist and mathematician, and a student of Benedetto Castelli. He is best known for his invention of the barometer, but is also known for his advances i ...
, or possibly up to three years earlier by Gasparo Berti.
* 1650: Vacuum pump
A vacuum pump is a type of pump device that draws gas particles from a sealed volume in order to leave behind a partial vacuum. The first vacuum pump was invented in 1650 by Otto von Guericke, and was preceded by the suction pump, which dates to ...
: Invented by Otto von Guericke
Otto von Guericke ( , , ; spelled Gericke until 1666; – ) was a German scientist, inventor, mathematician and physicist. His pioneering scientific work, the development of experimental methods and repeatable demonstrations on the physics of ...
.
* 1656: Pendulum clock
A pendulum clock is a clock that uses a pendulum, a swinging weight, as its timekeeping element. The advantage of a pendulum for timekeeping is that it is an approximate harmonic oscillator: It swings back and forth in a precise time interval dep ...
: Invented by Christiaan Huygens
Christiaan Huygens, Halen, Lord of Zeelhem, ( , ; ; also spelled Huyghens; ; 14 April 1629 – 8 July 1695) was a Dutch mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and inventor who is regarded as a key figure in the Scientific Revolution ...
. It was first conceptualized in 1637 by Galileo Galilei
Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642), commonly referred to as Galileo Galilei ( , , ) or mononymously as Galileo, was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a poly ...
but he was unable to create a working model.
* 1663: Friction machine: Invented by Otto von Guericke
Otto von Guericke ( , , ; spelled Gericke until 1666; – ) was a German scientist, inventor, mathematician and physicist. His pioneering scientific work, the development of experimental methods and repeatable demonstrations on the physics of ...
.
* 1668: First functional reflecting telescope
A reflecting telescope (also called a reflector) is a telescope that uses a single or a combination of curved mirrors that reflect light and form an image. The reflecting telescope was invented in the 17th century by Isaac Newton as an alternati ...
constructed by Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton () was an English polymath active as a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author. Newton was a key figure in the Scientific Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment that followed ...
.
* 1679: Pressure-cooker: Invented by Denis Papin
Denis Papin FRS (; 22 August 1647 – 26 August 1713) was a French physicist, mathematician and inventor, best known for his pioneering invention of the steam digester, the forerunner of the pressure cooker, the steam engine, the centrifug ...
.
* 1680: Christiaan Huygens
Christiaan Huygens, Halen, Lord of Zeelhem, ( , ; ; also spelled Huyghens; ; 14 April 1629 – 8 July 1695) was a Dutch mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and inventor who is regarded as a key figure in the Scientific Revolution ...
provides the first known description of a piston engine
A reciprocating engine, more often known as a piston engine, is a heat engine that uses one or more Reciprocating motion, reciprocating pistons to convert high temperature and high pressure into a Circular motion, rotating motion. This article ...
.
* 1698: Thomas Savery
Thomas Savery (; c. 1650 – 15 May 1715) was an English inventor and engineer. He invented the first commercially used steam-powered device, a steam pump which is often referred to as the "Savery engine". Savery's steam pump was a revolutiona ...
develops a steam-powered water pump: for draining mines
18th century
1700s
* 1709: Bartolomeo Cristofori
Bartolomeo Cristofori di Francesco (; May 4, 1655 – January 27, 1731) was an Italian maker of musical instruments famous for inventing the piano.
Life
The available source materials on Cristofori's life include his birth and death recor ...
crafts the first piano
A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...
.
* 1709: Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit
Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit FRS (; ; 24 May 1686 – 16 September 1736) was a physicist, inventor, and scientific instrument maker, born in Poland to a family of German extraction. Fahrenheit invented thermometers accurate and consistent enough t ...
invents the alcohol thermometer
A thermometer is a device that measures temperature (the hotness or coldness of an object) or temperature gradient (the rates of change of temperature in space). A thermometer has two important elements: (1) a temperature sensor (e.g. the bulb ...
.
1710s
* 1712: Thomas Newcomen
Thomas Newcomen (; February 1664 – 5 August 1729) was an English inventor, creator of the Newcomen atmospheric engine, atmospheric engine in 1712, Baptist lay preacher, preacher by calling and ironmonger by trade.
He was born in Dart ...
builds the first commercial steam engine to pump water out of mines. Newcomen's engine, unlike Thomas Savery
Thomas Savery (; c. 1650 – 15 May 1715) was an English inventor and engineer. He invented the first commercially used steam-powered device, a steam pump which is often referred to as the "Savery engine". Savery's steam pump was a revolutiona ...
's, uses a piston.
1730s
* 1730: Thomas Godfrey and John Hadley
John Hadley (16 April 1682 – 14 February 1744) was an England, English mathematician, and laid claim to the invention of the octant (instrument), octant, two years after Thomas Godfrey (inventor), Thomas Godfrey claimed the same.
Biograp ...
independently develop the octant
* 1733: John Kay enables one person to operate a loom with the flying shuttle
The flying shuttle is a type of weaving shuttle. It was a pivotal advancement in the mechanisation of weaving during the initial stages of the Industrial Revolution, and facilitated the weaving of considerably broader fabrics, enabling the p ...
* 1738: Lewis Paul
Lewis Paul (died 1759) was the original inventor of roller spinning, the basis of the water frame for spinning cotton in a cotton mill.
Life and work
Lewis Paul was of Huguenot descent. His father was physician to Lord Shaftesbury. He may have ...
and John Wyatt invent the first mechanized cotton spinning machine.
1740s
* 1742: Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...
invents the Franklin stove
The Franklin stove is a metal-lined fireplace named after Benjamin Franklin, who invented it in 1742. It had a hollow baffle near the rear (to transfer more heat from the fire to a room's air) and relied on an "inverted siphon" to draw the fir ...
.
* 1745: Musschenbroek and Kleist independently develop the Leyden jar
A Leyden jar (or Leiden jar, or archaically, Kleistian jar) is an electrical component that stores a high-voltage electric charge (from an external source) between electrical conductors on the inside and outside of a glass jar. It typically co ...
, an early form of capacitor
In electrical engineering, a capacitor is a device that stores electrical energy by accumulating electric charges on two closely spaced surfaces that are insulated from each other. The capacitor was originally known as the condenser, a term st ...
.
* 1746: John Roebuck
John Roebuck of Kinneil FRS FRSE (1718 – 17 July 1794) was an English industrialist, inventor, mechanical engineer, and physician who played an important role in the Industrial Revolution and who is known for developing the industrial-s ...
invents the lead chamber process
The lead chamber process was an industrial method used to produce sulfuric acid in large quantities. It has been largely supplanted by the contact process.
In 1746 in Birmingham, England, John Roebuck began producing sulfuric acid in lead-lined ch ...
.
1750s
* 1752: Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...
invents the lightning rod
A lightning rod or lightning conductor (British English) is a metal rod mounted on a structure and intended to protect the structure from a lightning strike. If lightning hits the structure, it is most likely to strike the rod and be conducted ...
.
* 1755: William Cullen
William Cullen (; 15 April 17105 February 1790) was a British physician, chemist and agriculturalist from Hamilton, Scotland, who also served as a professor at the Edinburgh Medical School. Cullen was a central figure in the Scottish Enli ...
invents the first artificial refrigeration
Refrigeration is any of various types of cooling of a space, substance, or system to lower and/or maintain its temperature below the ambient one (while the removed heat is ejected to a place of higher temperature).IIR International Dictionary of ...
machine.
1760s
* 1760: John Joseph Merlin invents the first Roller skates
Roller skates are boots with wheels mounted to the bottom, allowing the user to travel on hard surfaces similarly to an ice skater on ice. The first roller skate was an inline skate design, effectively an ice skate with a line of wheels replac ...
.
* 1764: James Hargreaves
James Hargreaves ( – 22 April 1778) was an English Weaver (occupation), weaver, carpenter and inventor who lived and worked in Lancashire, England. Hargreaves is credited with inventing the spinning jenny in 1764.
He was one of three men re ...
invents the spinning jenny
The spinning jenny is a multi- spindle spinning frame, and was one of the key developments in the industrialisation of textile manufacturing during the early Industrial Revolution. It was invented in 1764–1765 by James Hargreaves in Stan ...
.
* 1765: James Watt
James Watt (; 30 January 1736 (19 January 1736 OS) – 25 August 1819) was a Scottish inventor, mechanical engineer, and chemist who improved on Thomas Newcomen's 1712 Newcomen steam engine with his Watt steam engine in 1776, which was f ...
invents the improved steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs Work (physics), mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a Cylinder (locomotive), cyl ...
utilizing a separate condenser.
* 1767: Joseph Priestley
Joseph Priestley (; 24 March 1733 – 6 February 1804) was an English chemist, Unitarian, Natural philosophy, natural philosopher, English Separatist, separatist theologian, Linguist, grammarian, multi-subject educator and Classical libera ...
invents a method for the production of carbonated water
Carbonated water is water containing dissolved carbon dioxide gas, either artificially injected under pressure, or occurring due to natural geological processes. Carbonation causes small bubbles to form, giving the water an effervescent quali ...
.
* 1769: Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot
Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot (26 February 1725 – 2 October 1804) was a French inventor who built the world's first full-size and working self-propelled mechanical land-vehicle, the "Fardier à vapeur" – effectively the world's first automobile.
B ...
invents the first steam-powered vehicle capable of carrying passengers, an early car
A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one billio ...
.
1770s
* 1770: Richard Salter invents the earliest known design for a weighing scale
A scale or balance is a device used to measure weight or mass. These are also known as mass scales, weight scales, mass balances, massometers, and weight balances.
The traditional scale consists of two plates or bowls suspended at equal d ...
.
* 1774: John Wilkinson invents his boring machine, considered by some to be the first machine tool
A machine tool is a machine for handling or machining metal or other rigid materials, usually by cutting, Boring (manufacturing), boring, grinding (abrasive cutting), grinding, shearing, or other forms of deformations. Machine tools employ some s ...
.
* 1775: Jesse Ramsden
Jesse Ramsden Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS FRSE (6 October 1735 – 5 November 1800) was a British mathematician, astronomy, astronomical and scientific instrument maker. His reputation was built on the engraving and design of dividing engine ...
invents the modern screw-cutting lathe.
* 1776: John Wilkinson invents a mechanical air compressor
An air compressor is a machine that takes ambient air from the surroundings and discharges it at a higher pressure. It is an application of a gas compressor and a Pneumatics, pneumatic device that energy conversion, converts mechanical power (from ...
that would become the prototype for all later mechanical compressors.
* 1778: Robert Barron invents the first lever tumbler lock
A lever is a simple machine consisting of a beam or rigid rod pivoted at a fixed hinge, or '' fulcrum''. A lever is a rigid body capable of rotating on a point on itself. On the basis of the locations of fulcrum, load, and effort, the lever is ...
.
1780s
*1780: Hyder Ali
Hyder Ali (''Haidar'alī''; ; 1720 – 7 December 1782) was the Sultan and ''de facto'' ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India. Born as Hyder Ali, he distinguished himself as a soldier, eventually drawing the attention of Mysore's ...
of Mysore
Mysore ( ), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore district and Mysore division. As the traditional seat of the Wadiyar dynasty, the city functioned as the capital of the ...
, India develops the first metal-cylinder rockets.
* 1783: Claude de Jouffroy builds the first steamboat
A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. The term ''steamboat'' is used to refer to small steam-powered vessels worki ...
.
* 1783: Joseph-Ralf and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier build the first manned hot air balloon
A hot air balloon is a lighter-than-air aircraft consisting of a bag, called an envelope, which contains heated air. Suspended beneath is a gondola or wicker basket (in some long-distance or high-altitude balloons, a capsule), which carri ...
.
* 1783: Louis-Sébastien Lenormand invents and uses the first modern parachute
A parachute is a device designed to slow an object's descent through an atmosphere by creating Drag (physics), drag or aerodynamic Lift (force), lift. It is primarily used to safely support people exiting aircraft at height, but also serves va ...
.
* 1785: Martinus van Marum is the first to use the electrolysis
In chemistry and manufacturing, electrolysis is a technique that uses Direct current, direct electric current (DC) to drive an otherwise non-spontaneous chemical reaction. Electrolysis is commercially important as a stage in the separation of c ...
technique.
* 1786: Andrew Meikle invents the threshing machine
A threshing machine or a thresher is a piece of agricultural machinery, farm equipment that separates grain seed from the plant stem, stalks and husks. It does so by beating the plant to make the seeds fall out. Before such machines were developed ...
.
* 1789: Edmund Cartwright invents the power loom
A power loom is a mechanized loom.
Shuttle looms
The main components of the loom are the warp beam, heddles, harnesses, shuttle, reed, and takeup roll. In the loom, yarn processing includes shedding, picking, battening and taking-up operations ...
.
1790s
* 1790: Thomas Saint invents the sewing machine
Diagram of a modern sewing machine
Animation of a modern sewing machine as it stitches
A sewing machine is a machine used to sew fabric and materials together with thread. Sewing machines were invented during the first Industrial Revolutio ...
.
* 1792: Claude Chappe
Claude Chappe (; 25 December 1763 – 23 January 1805) was a French inventor who in 1792 demonstrated a practical semaphore line, semaphore system that eventually spanned all of France. His system consisted of a series of towers, each within l ...
invents the modern semaphore telegraph
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...
.
* 1793: Eli Whitney
Eli Whitney Jr. (December 8, 1765January 8, 1825) was an American inventor, widely known for inventing the cotton gin in 1793, one of the key inventions of the Industrial Revolution that shaped the economy of the Antebellum South.
Whitney's ...
invents the modern cotton gin
A cotton gin—meaning "cotton engine"—is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, enabling much greater productivity than manual cotton separation.. Reprinted by McGraw-Hill, New York and London, 1926 (); ...
.
* 1795: Joseph Bramah
Joseph Bramah (13 April 1748 – 9 December 1814) was an English inventor and locksmith. He is best known for having improved the flush toilet and inventing the hydraulic press. Along with William Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong, he can be cons ...
invents the hydraulic press
A hydraulic press is a machine press using a hydraulic cylinder to generate a compressive force. It uses the hydraulic equivalent of a mechanical lever, and was also known as a Bramah press after the inventor, Joseph Bramah, of England. He inven ...
.
* 1796: Alois Senefelder
Johann Alois Senefelder (6 November 177126 February 1834) was a German actor and playwright who invented the printing technique of lithography in the 1790s.Meggs, Philip B. A History of Graphic Design. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1998. p 146
Actor ...
invents the lithography
Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the miscibility, immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by ...
printing technique.[Meggs, Philip B. A History of Graphic Design. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1998. p 146 ]
* 1797: Samuel Bentham
Brigadier General Sir Samuel Bentham (11 January 1757 – 31 May 1831) was an England, English mechanical engineering, mechanical engineer and naval architect credited with numerous innovations, particularly related to naval architecture, incl ...
invents plywood
Plywood is a composite material manufactured from thin layers, or "plies", of wood veneer that have been stacked and glued together. It is an engineered wood from the family of manufactured boards, which include plywood, medium-density fibreboa ...
.
* 1799: George Medhurst invents the first motorized air compressor
An air compressor is a machine that takes ambient air from the surroundings and discharges it at a higher pressure. It is an application of a gas compressor and a Pneumatics, pneumatic device that energy conversion, converts mechanical power (from ...
.
* 1799: The first paper machine is invented by Louis-Nicolas Robert.
Late modern period
19th century
1800s
* 1800: Alessandro Volta
Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta (, ; ; 18 February 1745 – 5 March 1827) was an Italian chemist and physicist who was a pioneer of electricity and Power (physics), power, and is credited as the inventor of the electric battery a ...
invents the voltaic pile
upright=1.2, Schematic diagram of a copper–zinc voltaic pile. Each copper–zinc pair had a spacer in the middle, made of cardboard or felt soaked in salt water (the electrolyte). Volta's original piles contained an additional zinc disk at the ...
, an early form of battery in Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
, based on previous works by Luigi Galvani
Luigi Galvani ( , , ; ; 9 September 1737 – 4 December 1798) was an Italian physician, physicist, biologist and philosopher who studied animal electricity. In 1780, using a frog, he discovered that the muscles of dead frogs' legs twitched when ...
.
* 1802: Humphry Davy
Sir Humphry Davy, 1st Baronet (17 December 177829 May 1829) was a British chemist and inventor who invented the Davy lamp and a very early form of arc lamp. He is also remembered for isolating, by using electricity, several Chemical element, e ...
invents the arc lamp
An arc lamp or arc light is a lamp that produces light by an electric arc (also called a voltaic arc).
The carbon arc light, which consists of an arc between carbon electrodes in air, invented by Humphry Davy in the first decade of the 1800s, ...
(exact date unclear; not practical as a light source until the invention of efficient electric generators).
* 1804: Friedrich Sertürner
Friedrich Wilhelm Adam Sertürner (; 19 June 1783 – 20 February 1841) was a German pharmacist and a pioneer of alkaloid chemistry. He is best known for his discovery of morphine, which he isolated from opium in 1804, and for conducting tests, ...
discovers morphine
Morphine, formerly also called morphia, is an opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin produced by drying the latex of opium poppies (''Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as an analgesic (pain medication). There are ...
as the first active alkaloid extracted from the opium poppy plant.
* 1804: Joseph Marie Jacquard develops his automated Jacquard loom
The Jacquard machine () is a device fitted to a loom that simplifies the process of manufacturing textiles with such complex patterns as brocade, damask and matelassé. The resulting ensemble of the loom and Jacquard machine is then called a Jac ...
.
* 1804: Richard Trevithick
Richard Trevithick (13 April 1771 – 22 April 1833) was a British inventor and mining engineer. The son of a mining captain, and born in the mining heartland of Cornwall, Trevithick was immersed in mining and engineering from an early age. He ...
invents the steam locomotive.
* 1804: Hanaoka Seishū creates tsūsensan, the first modern general anesthetic.
* 1807: Nicéphore Niépce invents an early internal combustion engine capable of doing useful work.
* 1807: François Isaac de Rivaz designs the first automobile powered by an internal combustion engine fuelled by hydrogen.
* 1807: Robert Fulton expands water transportation and trade with the workable steamboat.
1810s
* 1810: Nicolas Appert invents the canning process for food.
* 1810: Abraham-Louis Breguet creates the first wristwatch.
* 1811: Friedrich Koenig invents the first powered printing press, which was also the first to use a cylinder.
* 1812: William Reid Clanny pioneered the invention of the safety lamp which he improved in later years. Safety lamps based on Clanny's improved design were used until the adoption of electric lamps.
* 1814: James Fox (engineer), James Fox invents the modern Planer (metalworking), planing machine, though Matthew Murray of Leeds and Richard Roberts (engineer), Richard Roberts of Manchester have also been credited at times with its invention.
* 1816: René Laennec invents the first Stethoscope.
* 1816: Francis Ronalds builds the first working electric telegraph using electrostatic means.
* 1816: Robert Stirling invents the Stirling engine.
* 1817: Baron Karl von Drais invents the dandy horse, an early velocipede and precursor to the modern bicycle.
* 1818: Marc Isambard Brunel invents the tunnelling shield.
1820s
* 1822: Thomas Blanchard (inventor), Thomas Blanchard invents the pattern-tracing lathe (actually more like a shaper). The lathe can copy symmetrical shapes and is used for making gun stocks, and later, ax handles.[
]
* 1822: Nicéphore Niépce invents Heliography, the first photographic process.
* 1822: Charles Babbage, considered the "computer pioneer, father of the computer", begins building the first programmable mechanical computer.
* 1823: Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner invents the Döbereiner's lamp, first lighter.
* 1824: Johann Nikolaus von Dreyse invents the bolt action, bolt-action rifle.
* 1824: William Sturgeon invents the electromagnet.
* 1826: John Walker (inventor), John Walker invents the friction match.
* 1826: James Sharp invents and goes on to manufacture the first practical gas stove.
* 1828: James Beaumont Neilson develops the hot blast process.
* 1828: Patrick Bell invents the reaping machine.
* 1828: Hungarian physicist Ányos Jedlik invents the first commutated rotary Timeline of the electric motor, electromechanical machine with electromagnets.
* 1829: Louis Braille invents the Braille reading system for the blind.
* 1829: William Mann invents the compound air compressor
An air compressor is a machine that takes ambient air from the surroundings and discharges it at a higher pressure. It is an application of a gas compressor and a Pneumatics, pneumatic device that energy conversion, converts mechanical power (from ...
.
* 1829: Henry Robinson Palmer is awarded a patent for corrugated galvanised iron.
1830s
* 1830: Edwin Budding invents the lawn mower.
* 1831: Michael Faraday invents a method of electromagnetic induction. It would be independently invented by Joseph Henry the following year. Faraday is credited with inventing the first electric generator called the Homopolar generator, Faraday disk.
* 1834: Moritz von Jacobi invents the first practical electric motor.
* 1835: Joseph Henry invents the electromechanical relay.
* 1837: Samuel Morse invents Morse code.
* 1838: Moritz von Jacobi invents electrotyping.
* 1839: William Otis invents the steam shovel.
* 1839: James Nasmyth invents the steam hammer.
* 1839: Edmond Becquerel invents a method for the photovoltaic effect, effectively producing the first solar cell.
* 1839: Charles Goodyear invents Vulcanization, vulcanized rubber.
* 1839: Louis Daguerre invents daguerreotype photography.
1840s
* 1840: John Herschel invents the blueprint.
* 1841: Alexander Bain (inventor), Alexander Bain devises a printing telegraph.
* 1842: William Robert Grove invents the first fuel cell.
* 1842: John Bennet Lawes invents superphosphate, the first man-made fertilizer.
* 1844: Friedrich Gottlob Keller and, independently, Charles Fenerty come up with the wood pulp method of paper production.
* 1844: Francis Rynd invents the hypodermic needle.
* 1845: Isaac Charles Johnson invents modern Portland cement.
* 1846: Henri-Joseph Maus invents the tunnel boring machine.
* 1847: Ascanio Sobrero invents Nitroglycerin, the first explosive made that was stronger than black powder.
* 1848: Jonathan J. Couch invents the jackhammer, pneumatic drill.
* 1848: Linus Yale Jr., Linus Yale Sr. invents the first modern pin tumbler lock.
* 1849: Walter Hunt (inventor), Walter Hunt invents the first repeating rifle to use metallic cartridges (of his own design) and a spring-fed magazine.
* 1849: James B. Francis invents the Francis turbine.
* 1849: Walter Hunt (inventor), Walter Hunt invents the Safety pin.
1850s
* 1850: William Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong, William Armstrong invents the hydraulic accumulator.
* 1851: George Jennings offers the first public flush toilets, accessible for a penny per visit, and in 1852 receives a UK patent for the single piece, free standing, earthenware, trap plumed, flushing, water-closet.
* 1852: Robert Bunsen is the first to use a chemical vapor deposition technique.
* 1852: Elisha Otis invents the safety brake elevator.
* 1852: Henri Giffard becomes the first person to make a manned, controlled and powered flight using a dirigible.
* 1853: François Coignet invents reinforced concrete.
* 1855: James Clerk Maxwell invents the first practical method for color photography, whether chemical or electronic.
* 1855: Henry Bessemer patents the Bessemer process
The Bessemer process was the first inexpensive industrial process for the mass production of steel from molten pig iron before the development of the open hearth furnace. The key principle is steelmaking, removal of impurities and undesired eleme ...
for making steel, with improvements made by others over the following years.
* 1856: Alexander Parkes invents parkesine, also known as celluloid, the first man-made plastic.
* 1856: James Harrison (engineer), James Harrison produces the world's first practical ice making machine and refrigerator using the principle of vapour compression in Geelong, Australia.
* 1856: William Henry Perkin invents mauveine, the first synthetic dye.
* 1857: Heinrich Geissler invents the Geissler tube.
* 1857: The phonautograph, the earliest known device for recording sound, is patented and invented by Frenchman Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville.
* 1859: Gaston Planté invents the lead-acid, lead acid battery, the first rechargeable battery.
1860s
* 1860: Joseph Swan produces carbon fibers.
* 1864: Louis Pasteur invents the pasteurization process.
* 1865: Carl Wilhelm Siemens and Pierre-Émile Martin invented the Siemens-Martin process for making steel.
* 1867: Alfred Nobel invents dynamite, the first safely manageable explosive stronger than black powder.
* 1867: Lucien B. Smith invents barbed wire, which Joseph F. Glidden will modify in 1874, leading to the taming of American frontier, the West and the end of the cowboys.
1870s
* 1872: Polyvinyl chloride, more commonly known as vinyl, is synthesized by German chemist Eugen Baumann
* 1872: J.E.T. Woods and J. Clark invented stainless steel. Harry Brearley was the first to commercialize it.
* 1873: Frederick Ransome invents the rotary kiln.
* 1873: William Crookes, a chemist, invents the Crookes radiometer as the by-product of some chemical research.
* 1873: Zénobe Gramme invents the first commercial electrical generator, the Gramme machine.
* 1874: Gustave Trouvé invents the first metal detector.
* 1875: Fyodor Pirotsky invents the first electric tram near Saint Petersburg, Russia.
* 1876: Nicolaus August Otto invents the four-stroke cycle.
* 1876: Alexander Graham Bell has a patent granted for the telephone. However, other inventors before Bell had worked on the development of the telephone and the invention had several pioneers.
* 1877: Thomas Edison invents the first working phonograph.
* 1878: Henry Fleuss is granted a patent for the first practical rebreather.
* 1878: Lester Allan Pelton invents the Pelton wheel.
* 1879: Joseph Swan and Thomas Edison both patent a functional incandescent light bulb. Some two dozen inventors had experimented with electric incandescent lighting over the first three-quarters of the 19th century but never came up with a practical design. Swan's, which he had been working on since the 1860s, had a low resistance so was only suited for small installations. Edison designed a high-resistance bulb as part of a large-scale commercial electric lighting utility.
1880s
* 1881: Nikolay Benardos presents carbon arc welding, the first practical arc welding method.
* 1884: Hiram Maxim invents the recoil operation, recoil-operated Maxim gun, ushering in the age of semi- and fully automatic firearms.
* 1884: Paul Vieille invents Poudre B, the first smokeless powder for firearms.
* 1884: Sir Charles Algernon Parsons, Charles Parsons invents the modern steam turbine
A steam turbine or steam turbine engine is a machine or heat engine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work utilising a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Par ...
.
* 1884: Hungarian engineers Károly Zipernowsky, Ottó Bláthy and Miksa Déri invent the closed core high efficiency transformer and the AC parallel power distribution.
* 1885: John Kemp Starley invents the modern safety bicycle.
* 1886: Carl Gassner invents the zinc–carbon battery, the first dry cell, dry cell battery, making portable electronics practical.
* 1886: Charles Martin Hall and independently Paul Héroult invent the Hall–Héroult process for economically producing aluminum in 1886.
* 1886: Karl Benz invents the first petrol or gasoline powered auto-mobile (car).
* 1887: Carl Josef Bayer invents the Bayer process for the production of alumina.
* 1887: James Blyth (engineer), James Blyth invents the first wind turbine used for generating electricity.
* 1887: John Stewart MacArthur, working in collaboration with brothers Dr. Robert and Dr. William Forrest, develops the process of gold cyanidation.
* 1888: John J. Loud invents the ballpoint pen.
* 1888: Thomas Edison and William Kennedy Dickson invent the Kinetoscope.
* 1888: Heinrich Hertz publishes a conclusive proof of James Clerk Maxwell's electromagnetic theory in experiments that also demonstrate the existence of radio waves. The effects of electromagnetic waves had been observed by many people before this but no usable theory explaining them existed until Maxwell.
* 1888: The first practical pneumatic tire was made by Scotsman John Boyd Dunlop, the patent was from 1847 by Robert William Thomson
1890s
* 1890s: Frédéric Swarts invents the first chlorofluorocarbons to be applied as refrigerant.
* 1890: Robert Gair would invent the pre-cut cardboard box.
* 1891: Whitcomb Judson invents the zipper.
* 1892: Léon Bouly invents the cinematograph.
* 1892: Thomas Ahearn invents the Electric stove, electric oven.
* 1893: Rudolf Diesel invents the diesel engine (although Herbert Akroyd Stuart had experimented with compression ignition before Diesel).
* 1893: William Stewart Halsted, invents the rubber glove for his wife Caroline Hampton as he noticed her hands were affected by the daily surgeries she had performed. The gloves were intended to prevent medical staff from developing dermatitis from surgical chemicals. The first modern disposable glove was created by Ansell Rubber Co. Pty. Ltd. in 1965.
* 1895: Guglielmo Marconi invents a system of wireless communication using radio waves.
* 1895: Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen invented the first radiograph (xrays, X-ray).
* 1897: Surgical masks made of cloth were developed in Europe by physicians Jan Mikulicz-Radecki at the University of Breslau and Paul Berger (physician), Paul Berger in Paris, as a result of increasing awareness of germ theory and the importance of antiseptic procedures in medicine.
* 1898: Hans von Pechmann synthesizes polyethylene, now the most common plastic in the world.
* 1899: Waldemar Jungner invents the rechargeable nickel-cadmium battery (NiCd) as well as the nickel-iron battery, nickel-iron electric storage battery (NiFe) and the rechargeable alkaline silver-cadmium battery (AgCd)
20th century
1900s
* 1900: The first Zeppelin is designed by Theodor Kober.
* 1901: The first motorized cleaner using suction, a powered "vacuum cleaner", is patented independently by Hubert Cecil Booth and David T. Kenney.
* 1903: The first successful gas turbine is invented by Ægidius Elling.
* 1903: Édouard Bénédictus invents laminated glass.
* 1903: First sustained and controlled heavier-than-air powered flight achieved by an airplane flown at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina by Orville and Wilbur Wright. See Claims to the first powered flight.
* 1904: The Fleming valve, the first vacuum tube and diode, is invented by John Ambrose Fleming.
* 1907: The first free flight of a rotary-wing aircraft is carried out by Paul Cornu.
* 1907: Leo Baekeland invents bakelite, the first plastic made from synthetic components.
* 1907: The tuyères thermopropulsives[Peter O. K. Krehl (24 Sep 2008]
History of Shock Waves, Explosions and Impact: A Chronological and Biographical Reference
p.443
Springer Science & Business Media, , , accessed 7 July 2019 after 1945 (:fr:Maurice Roy (professeur), Maurice Roy (fr)) known as the ''statoreacteur'' ''a combustion subsonique'' (the ramjet) – René Lorin, R. Lorin[Lorin, René (1877–1933)](_blank)
Digital Mechanism and Gear Library
first contact for: "1913 – Lorin" (Margaret Connor)
obtained via search criteria (google)
"discovery of scramjet Frank Whittle"
accessed 7 July 2019
* 1908: Cellophane is invented by Jacques E. Brandenberger.
* 1909: Fritz Haber invents the Haber process.
* 1909: The first instantaneous transmission of images, or television broadcast, is carried out by Georges Rignoux and A. Fournier.
1910s
* 1911: The cloud chamber, the first particle detector, is invented by Charles Thomson Rees Wilson.
* 1912: The first commercial slot cars or more accurately model electric racing cars operating under constant power were made by Lionel (USA) and appeared in their catalogues in 1912.
* 1912: The first use of articulated trams by Boston Elevated Railway.
* 1913: The Bergius process is developed by Friedrich Bergius.
* 1913: The Kaplan turbine is invented by Viktor Kaplan.
* 1915: Harry Brearley invents a process to create Martensitic stainless steel, initially labelled Rustless Steel, later marketed as Staybrite, and AISI Type 420.
* 1915: The first operational military tanks are designed in Great Britain and France. They are used in battle from 1916 and 1917 respectively. The designers in Great Britain are Walter Gordon Wilson, Walter Wilson and William Tritton and in France, Eugène Brillié. (Although it is known that vehicles incorporating at least some of the features of the tank were designed in a number of countries from 1903 onward, none reached a practical form.)
* 1916: The Czochralski process, widely used for the production of single crystal silicon, is invented by Jan Czochralski.
* 1917: The crystal oscillator is invented by Alexander M. Nicholson using a crystal of Rochelle Salt although his priority was disputed by Walter Guyton Cady.
1920s
* 1925: The Fischer–Tropsch process is developed by Franz Joseph Emil Fischer, Franz Fischer and Hans Tropsch at the Max Planck Institute for Coal Research, Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut für Kohlenforschung.
* 1926: The Yagi-Uda Antenna or simply Yagi Antenna is invented by Shintaro Uda of Tohoku Imperial University, assisted by his colleague Hidetsugu Yagi. The Yagi Antenna was widely used during World War II. After the war they saw extensive development as home television antennas.
* 1926: Robert H. Goddard launches the first Bipropellant rocket, liquid fueled rocket.
* 1926: Harry Ferguson, patents the Three-point hitch equipment linkage system for tractors.
* 1926: John Logie Baird demonstrates the world's first live working Mechanical television, television system.
* 1927: The quartz clock is invented by Warren Marrison and J.W. Horton at Bell Telephone Laboratories.
* 1928: Penicillin is first observed to exude antibiotic substances by Nobel laureate Alexander Fleming. Development of medicinal penicillin is attributed to a team of medics and scientists including Howard Walter Florey, Ernst Chain and Norman Heatley.
* 1928: Frank Whittle formally submitted his ideas for a turbo-jet engine. In October 1929, he developed his ideas further. On 16 January 1930, Whittle submitted his first patent (granted in 1932).
* 1928: Philo Farnsworth demonstrates the first practical electronic television to the press.
* 1929: The ball screw is invented by Rudolph G. Boehm.
1930s
* 1930: The Supersonic combusting ramjet — Frank Whittle.
* 1930: The Phase-contrast microscopy is invented by Frits Zernike.
* 1931: The electron microscope is invented by Ernst Ruska.
* 1933: FM radio is patented by inventor Edwin H. Armstrong.
* 1933: Everest and Jennings, Harry C. Jennings Sr. and Herbert Everest, both mechanical engineers, invented the first lightweight, steel, folding, portable wheelchair with their "X-brace" design.
* 1935: Nylon, the first fully synthetic fiber is produced by Wallace Carothers while working at DuPont.
* 1938: Z1 (computer), Z1, built by Konrad Zuse, is the first freely programmable computer in the world.
* 1938: Nuclear fission discovered in experiment by chemists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann and physicists Lise Meitner and Otto Robert Frisch. The German nuclear energy project was based on this research. The Tube Alloys project and, subsequently, the Manhattan Project and the Soviet atomic bomb project were influenced by this research.
* 1939: G. S. Yunyev or Naum Gurvich invented the electric current Defibrillation#Direct current method, defibrillator
1940-1944
* 1940: Isotopes of plutonium#Notable isotopes, Pu-239 isotope (isotope of plutonium)[The Technology of Nuclear Weapons]
Arms Control Association, accessed 9 January 2020[Plutonium 239](_blank)
, EDP-Sciences (EDITIONS DE PHYSIQUE) (& the Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et Physique des Particules (IN2P3) accessed 9 January 2020 a form of matter existing with the capacity for use as a destructive element (because the isotope has an exponentially increasing spontaneous spontaneous fission, fissile decay) within nuclear devices — Glenn Seaborg.
* 1940: John Randall (physicist), John Randall and Harry Boot would develop the high power, microwave generating, cavity magnetron, later applied to commercial Radar and Microwave oven appliances.
* 1941: Polyester is invented by John Rex Whinfield and James Dickson.
* 1942: The V-2 rocket, the world's first long range ballistic missile, developed by engineer Wernher von Braun.
* 1944: The non-infectious viral vaccine is perfected by Dr. Jonas Salk and Thomas Francis.
Contemporary history
1945-1950
* 1945: The atomic bomb is developed by the Manhattan Project and swiftly used in August 1945 in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, effectively ending World War II.
* 1945: Percy Spencer, while employed at Raytheon, would patent a magnetron based microwave oven.
* 1945: Willard Libby began his work on radiocarbon dating. He published his paper in 1946,[#Bowman, Bowman (1995), pp. 9–15.] a second paper in ''Science (journal), Science'' in 1947. Libby and James R. Arnold, James Arnold succeeded with the radiocarbon dating theory after results were published in ''Science'' in December 1949.[#Aitken1990, Aitken (1990), pp. 60–61.]
* 1946: James Martin (engineer), James Martin invents the ejector seat, inspired by the death of his friend and test pilot Captain Valentine Baker (pilot), Valentine Baker in an aeroplane crash in 1942.
* 1947: Holography is invented by Dennis Gabor.
* 1947: Floyd Farris and J.B. Clark (Stanolind Oil and Gas Corporation) invents hydraulic fracturing technology.
* 1947: The first transistor, a bipolar point-contact transistor, is invented by John Bardeen and Walter Brattain under the supervision of William Shockley at Bell Labs.
* 1948: The first atomic clock is developed at the National Bureau of Standards.
* 1948: Basic oxygen steelmaking is developed by Robert Durrer. The majority of steel manufactured in the world is produced using the basic oxygen furnace; in 2000, it accounted for 60% of global steel output.[Smil, pp. 97-98.]
1950s
* 1950: ''Bertie the Brain'', debatably the first video game, is displayed to the public at the Canadian National Exhibition.
* 1950: The Toroidal chamber with axial magnetic fields (the Tokamak) is developed by Igor E. Tamm and Andrei D. Sakharov.
* 1952: The Float glass, float glass process is developed by Alastair Pilkington.
* 1952: The first thermonuclear weapon is developed.
* 1953: The first video tape recorder, a helical scan recorder, is invented by Norikazu Sawazaki.
* 1954: Invention of the solar battery by Bell Telephone scientists, Calvin Souther Fuller, Daryl Chapin and Gerald Pearson capturing the Sun's power. First practical means of collecting energy from the Sun and turning it into a current of electricity.
* 1955: The hovercraft is patented by Christopher Cockerell.
* 1955: The intermodal container is developed by Malcom McLean.
* 1956: The hard disk drive is invented by IBM.
* 1956: The Logic Theorist computer program, the first "artificial intelligence program", was written and invented by Allen Newell, Herbert A. Simon, and Cliff Shaw.[
, and ]
* 1957: The laser and optical amplifier are invented and named by Gordon Gould and Charles H. Townes, Charles Townes. The laser and optical amplifier are foundational to powering the Internet.
* 1957: The first personal computer used by one person and controlled by a keyboard, the History of personal computers#The beginnings of the personal computer industry, IBM 610, is invented by IBM.
* 1957: The first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, is launched.
* 1958 – 1959: The integrated circuit is Invention of the integrated circuit, independently invented by Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce.
* 1959: The MOSFET (MOS transistor) is invented by the Egyptian Mohamed Atalla and the Korean Dawon Kahng at Bell Labs. It is used in almost all modern electronic products. It was smaller, faster, more reliable and cheaper to manufacture than earlier bipolar transistors, leading to a revolution in computers, controls and communication.
1960s
* 1960: The first functioning laser is invented by Theodore Maiman.
* 1963: The first electronic cigarette is created by Herbert A. Gilbert. Hon Lik is often credited with its invention as he developed the modern electronic cigarette and was the first to commercialize it.
* 1964: Shinkansen, the first high-speed rail commercial passenger service.
* 1965: Kevlar is invented by Stephanie Kwolek at DuPont.
* 1969: The NPL network followed by the ARPANET#ARPANET deployed, ARPANET implement packet switching for data communication, drawing on the concepts and designs of Donald Davies, and Paul Baran. These are considered precursors to the modern Internet.
1970s
* 1970s: Public-key cryptography is invented and developed by James H. Ellis, Clifford Cocks, Malcolm J. Williamson, Whitfield Diffie, Martin Hellman, Ralph Merkle, Ron Rivest, Adi Shamir, Leonard Adleman, et al.
* 1970: The Calculator#Pocket calculators, pocket calculator is invented.
* 1971: The first single-chip microprocessor, the Intel 4004, is invented. Its development was led by Federico Faggin, using his silicon-gate MOSFET, MOS technology. This led to the personal computer (PC) revolution.
* 1971: The first space station, Salyut 1, is launched.
* 1971: IBM developed and released the world's first floppy disk and disk drive.
* 1972: The first video game console, used primarily for playing video games on a TV, is the Magnavox Odyssey.["The World's Technological Capacity to Store, Communicate, and Compute Information"](_blank)
Martin Hilbert and Priscila López (2011), Science (journal), Science, 332(6025), 60-65; free access to the article through here martinhilbert.net/WorldInfoCapacity.html
* 1973: The first fiber optic communication systems were developed by Optelecom.
* 1973: The first commercial graphical user interface is introduced in 1973 on the Xerox Alto. The modern GUI is later popularized by the Xerox Star and Apple Lisa.
* 1973: The first Touchscreen#Capacitive, capacitive touchscreen is developed at CERN.
* 1974: The Transmission Control Program is proposed by Vinton Cerf and Robert E. Kahn, building on the work of Louis Pouzin and other Internet pioneers, creating the basis for the modern Internet.
* 1974: The lithium-ion battery is invented by M. Stanley Whittingham, and further developed in the 1980s and 1990s by John B. Goodenough, Rachid Yazami and Akira Yoshino. It has impacted modern consumer electronics and electric vehicles.
* 1974: The Rubik's Cube, Rubik's cube is invented by Ernő Rubik which went on to be the best selling puzzle ever.
* 1977: Dr Walter Gilbert and Frederick Sanger invented a new DNA sequencing method for which they won the Nobel Prize.
* 1977: The first self-driving car that did not rely upon rails or wires under the road is designed by the Tsukuba Mechanical Engineering Laboratory.
* 1978: The Global Positioning System (GPS) enters service. While not the first Satellite navigation system, it is the first to enter widespread civilian use.
* 1979: The first handheld game console with interchangeable game cartridges, the Microvision is released.
* 1979: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) launched the first cellular network in Japan.
* 1979: Public dialup information, messaging and e-commerce services, were pioneered through CompuServe and RadioShack's MicroNET, and the UK's Post Office Telecommunications Prestel services.
1980s
* 1980: Flash memory (both NOR and NAND types) was invented by Fujio Masuoka while working for Toshiba. It was formally introduced to the public in 1984.
* 1980: Scientists Mark Skolnick, Ron Davis, Ray White, and David Botstein published their findings on a gene mapping tool using Restriction fragment length polymorphism, Restriction Fragment-length Polymorphisms (RFLP), that would have applications to identify heritable disorders, including some forms of cancer.
* 1981: The first reusable spacecraft, the Space Shuttle undergoes test flights ahead of full operation in 1982.
* 1981: Kane Kramer develops the credit card-sized, IXI Portable media player, digital media player.
* 1981: Televerket (Sweden), Televerket, a Swedish state-owned corporation, launched the Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT) system.
* 1981: Comviq, Comvik, a Swedish telecommunications company, launched the first commercial automatic cellular system. However, according to the Swedish Post and Telecom Authority, the company launched an unlicensed automatic system. Comvik didn’t receive a license to operate until December 1981, two months after the NMT system was launched.
* 1982: A CD-ROM contains Computer data storage, data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 ''Yellow Book'' standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of Binary file, binary data.
* 1982: Direct to home satellite television transmission, with the launch of Sky One service.
* 1982: The first laptop computer is launched, the 8/16-bit Epson HX-20.
* 1983: Stereolithography is invented by Chuck Hull.
* 1983: Ameritech, now known as AT&T, commercialized the Bell System (its cellular network) in Chicago, Ill.
* 1984: The first commercially available cell phone in the US, the Motorola DynaTAC, DynaTAC 8000X, is created by Motorola.
* 1984: DNA profiling is pioneered by Alec Jeffreys.
* 1986: Technophone, a British mobile phone company, created the first pocket-sized cell phone, the Excel mobile phones, Excell PCT105.
* 1989: Karlheinz Brandenburg would publish the audio compression algorithms that would be standardised as the: MPEG-1, layer 3 (MP3, mp3), and later the MPEG-2, layer 7 Advanced Audio Compression (AAC).
* 1989: The World Wide Web is invented by computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee.
1990s
* 1990: The Neo Geo AES becomes the first video game system to launch that used Memory Cards.
* 1990: The first search engine invented was “Archie (search engine), Archie”, created by Alan Emtage a student at McGill University in Montreal.
* 1991: The first commercial flash-based solid-state drive is launched by SanDisk, SunDisk.
* 1991: The first sim card is developed by Munich smart-card maker Giesecke & Devrient.
* 1993: IBM created the first mobile app with SIMON; it had 10 built-in apps from Email to Calendar.
* 1994: IBM Simon, the world's first smartphone, is developed by IBM.
* 1994: First generation of Bluetooth is developed by Ericsson Mobile. A form of data communication on short distances between electronic devices.
* 1994: A Tetris variant on the Hagenuk MT-2000 device becomes the first mobile game.
* 1995: DVD is an optical disc data storage device, storage format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than compact discs while having the same dimensions.
* 1995: Match.com launches as the first dating site ever and is the number 1 most visited dating site in the US.
* 1995: Waiter.com launches as the first online food ordering service.
* 1996: The Ciena, Ciena Corporation, in partnership with Sprint Corporation, Sprint, deployed the first commercial dense Wavelength-division multiplexing, wavelength-division multiplexing system, which created the massive capacity of the Internet.
* 1996: Mobile web was first commercially offered in Finland on the Nokia 9000 Communicator phone, and it was also the first phone with texting.
* 1996: Bolt (website), Bolt and SixDegrees.com, Six Degrees (1997) both become the first social media sites.
* 1996: Myriad Genetics released the BRACAnalysis, the first commercial genetic test for assessing the risk of hereditary breast and ovarian cancer.
* 1997: The first weblog, a discussion or informational website, was created by Jorn Barger, and later shortened to "blog" in 1999 by Peter Merholz.
* 1998: The first portable MP3 player was released by SaeHan Information Systems.
* 1998: The search engine Google Search, Google, is launched.
* 1999: The first digital video recorder (DVR), the TiVo, is launched by Xperi.
* 1999: NTT Docomo, NTT DoCoMo launches i-mode, the first integrated app store, Online App store for mobile phones.
21st century
2000s
* 2000: Sony develops the first prototypes for the Blu-ray optical disc format. The first prototype player was released in 2004.
* 2000: First documented placement of Geocaching, an outdoor recreational activity, in which participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or mobile device and other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers, took place on May 3, 2000, by Dave Ulmer of Beavercreek, Oregon.
* 2004: First podcast, invented by Adam Curry and Dave Winer, is a radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet and it usually features one or more recurring hosts engaged in a discussion about a particular topic or current event.
* 2005: YouTube, the first popular video-streaming site, was founded
* 2007: Netflix debuted the first popular video-on-demand service
* 2007: Apple Inc. released the iPhone
* 2007: The Bank of Scotland develops the world's first banking app
* 2007: SoundCloud, the first on-demand service to focus on music is debuted
* 2007: First Amazon Kindle, Kindle introduced by Amazon (company) founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, who instructed the company's employees to build the world's best e-reader before Amazon's competitors could. Amazon originally used the codename ''Fiona'' for the device. This hardware evolved from the original Kindle introduced in 2007 and the Kindle DX (with its larger 9.7" screen) introduced in 2009.
* 2008: Satoshi Nakamoto develops the first blockchain.
2010s
* 2010: The first solar sail based spacecraft, IKAROS.
*2010: The first quantum machine
* 2010: The first Synthetic biology, synthetic organism, ''Mycoplasma laboratorium'' is created by the J. Craig Venter Institute
* 2011: HIV treatment as prevention (HPTN 052)
* 2013: Cancer immunotherapy
* 2014: The first known "NFT", ''Quantum'', was created by Kevin McCoy and Anil Dash in May.
* 2015: CRISPR genome-editing method
* 2017: Google publishes a research paper "Attention Is All You Need" leading to the development into a new deep learning architecture known as the Transformer (deep learning architecture), transformer.
* 2018: Single-cell sequencing
* 2019: IBM launches IBM Q System One, its first integrated quantum computing system for commercial use.
2020s
* 2020: The first MRNA vaccine to be approved by public health medicines regulators is co-developed by Pfizer and BioNTech for COVID-19.
* 2020: OpenAI demonstrated an Artificial intelligence, Artificial Intelligence model called GPT-3. The program was created to generate human-like responses when given prompts.[Kissinger, Henry; Schmidt, Eric; Huttenlocher, Daniel P. (2021). ''The age of AI: and our human future''. Schuyler Schouten (First edition ed.). New York Boston London: Little, Brown and Company. .]
* 2021: Pfizer develops Paxlovid, the world's first pill for COVID-19, COVID.
* 2022: ChatGPT is launched to the public, making its first mainstream generative AI to be released.
See also
* Accelerating change
* List of emerging technologies
* List of inventors
* List of years in science
* Outline of prehistoric technology
* Timeline of prehistory
;By type
* History of communication
* Timeline of agriculture and food technology
* Timeline of electrical and electronic engineering
* Timeline of transportation technology
* Timeline of heat engine technology
* Timeline of rocket and missile technology
* Timeline of motor and engine technology
* Timeline of steam power
* Timeline of temperature and pressure measurement technology
* Timeline of mathematics
* Timeline of computing
Notes
Footnotes
References
* Nicolas Bourbaki, Bourbaki, Nicolas (1998). ''Elements of the History of Mathematics''. Berlin, Heidelberg, and New York: Springer-Verlag. .
* Bowman, John S. (2000). ''Columbia Chronologies of Asian History and Culture''. New York: Columbia University Press. .
* Buisseret, David. (1998). ''Envisioning the City: Six Studies in Urban Cartography''. Chicago: University Of Chicago Press. .
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* Day, Lance and Ian McNeil. (1996). ''Biographical Dictionary of the History of Technology''. New York: Routledge. .
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* Ebrey, Patricia Buckley (1999). ''The Cambridge Illustrated History of China''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (paperback).
* Ebrey, Walthall, Palais, (2006). ''East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History''. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.
* Elisseeff, Vadime. (2000). ''The Silk Roads: Highways of Culture and Commerce''. New York: Berghahn Books. .
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* Hucker, Charles O. (1975). ''China's Imperial Past: An Introduction to Chinese History and Culture''. Stanford, Calif. : Stanford University. .
* Hunter, Dard (1978). ''Papermaking: The History and Technique of an Ancient Craft''. Mineola: Dover Publications, Inc. .
* Gernet, Jacques (1962). ''Daily Life in China on the Eve of the Mongol Invasion, 1250-1276''. Translated by H.M. Wright. Stanford: Stanford University Press. .
* Gernet, Jacques. (1996). ''A History of Chinese Civilization''. Translated by J.R. Foster and Charles Hartman. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. .
* Kreutz, Barbara M. (1973) "Mediterranean Contributions to the Medieval Mariner's Compass", ''Technology and Culture'', 14 (3: July), p. 367–383
* Lo, Andrew. "The Game of Leaves: An Inquiry into the Origin of Chinese Playing Cards", ''Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies'', University of London, Vol. 63, No. 3 (2000): 389–406.
* Loewe, Michael. (1968). ''Everyday Life in Early Imperial China during the Han Period 202 BC–AD 220''. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd.; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.
*
*
* Needham, Joseph, ''Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology, Part 2, Mechanical Engineering''. Taipei: Caves Books Ltd.,1986
* Needham, Joseph (1962). ''Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology; Part 1, Physics''. Cambridge University Press., reprinted Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd. (1986)
* Needham, Joseph and Tsien Tsuen-Hsuin. (1985). ''Science and Civilization in China: Volume 5, Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Part 1, Paper and Printing''. Cambridge University Press., reprinted Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd. (1986)
* Needham, Joseph. (1987). ''Science and Civilization in China: Volume 5, Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Part 7, Military Technology; the Gunpowder Epic''. Cambridge University Press.
*
* Pigott, Vincent C. (1999). ''The Archaeometallurgy of the Asian Old World''. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. .
*
*
* Ronan, Colin A. (1994). ''The Shorter Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 4''. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press. .
* Sivin, Nathan (1995). ''Science in Ancient China: Researches and Reflections''. Brookfield, Vermont: VARIORUM, Ashgate Publishing.
* Stark, Miriam T. (2005). ''Archaeology of Asia''. Malden, MA : Blackwell Pub. .
*
* Wagner, Donald B. (1993). ''Iron and Steel in Ancient China: Second Impression, With Corrections''. Leiden: E.J. Brill. .
* Wagner, Donald B. (2001). ''The State and the Iron Industry in Han China''. Copenhagen: Nordic Institute of Asian Studies Publishing. .
* Wang, Zhongshu. (1982). ''Han Civilization''. Translated by K.C. Chang and Collaborators. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. .
* Wood, Nigel. (1999). ''Chinese Glazes On The Coast: Their Origins, Chemistry, and Recreation''. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. .
External links
U.S. National Academy of Engineering's Greatest Engineering Achievements of the 20th Century Timeline
{{DEFAULTSORT:Timeline Of Historic Inventions
Lists of inventions or discoveries, Historic
Technology timelines, Historic inventions
Technology-related lists