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.