Ancient inventions: A timeline

ANCIENT INVENTIONS

BC

YEAR

 

Milestone

 

2,000,000

Homo habilis appears.

 

500,000

Fire tamed by Homo erectus.

 

50,000

Homo sapiens (modern man) appears.

 

20,000

Invention of the bow and arrow.

 

12,000

Domestication of animals begins.

 

8000

Agriculture invented.

 

7000

Pottery.

 

6000

Weaving.

 

5000

Irrigation systems developed in the Middle East.

 

4000

First use of metals - copper smelted for making tools.

 

3500

Bronze, a hard copper tin alloy, discovered and used for making weapons, tools and armor.

 

3500

Wheeled carts appear and writing invented in Sumeria.

 

2800

Egyptians devise the 12-month, 365-day calendar.

 

1550

Earliest surviving medical textbook written in Egypt.

 

1400

Steel produced.

 

1100

Iron Age starts.

 

700

First purpose-made sundials appear.

 

650

Standardized coins used by Greeks.

 

512

Chinese produce cast iron from blast furnaces.

 

510

Greeks produce the earliest surviving world map.

 

400

Two Greeks invent the catapult, the first artillery weapon.

 

312

Work begins on the Appian Way, the first great Roman road.

 

210

Archimedes, the Greek scientist, invents the Archimedean screw, for raising water, and works out the theory of levers.

 

100

Glassblowing invented in Syria.

 

 

AC

 

100

Paper invented in China by Tsai Lun.

 

300

Stirrups invented in China, enabling horse-riders to use swords and spears effectively.

 

475

Horse collar invented in China.

 

600

The heavy plow invented by the Slavs.

 

770

Horseshoes come into use in Europe.

 

810

First description of Arabic numerals.

 

1000

Chinese discover a weak form of gunpowder.

 

1060

Earliest reference to a water-powered fulling mill for finishing cloth.

 

1100

Water power used for iron-making in Europe.

 

1180

Windmills in Europe.

 

Properties of the compass known in Europe.

 

1249

Roger Bacon gives earliest European recipe for gunpowder.

 

1286

Eyeglasses invented in Europe.

 

1291

The Venetian glass industry producing mirrors.

 

1300

Spinning wheels found in Europe.

 

1335

The earliest recorded mechanical clock is built in Italy.