Ancient Inventions

1st millennium BC

8th century BC

·       750 BC Fake Teeth in Etruria

·       750 BC Lenses in Ancient Greece

·       750–700 BC Warship in Phoenicia (Modern Lebanon)

7th century BC

·       600 BC Lighthouse in Egypt

6th century BC

With the Greco-Roman trispastos("three-pulley-crane"), the simplest ancient crane, a single man tripled the weight he could lift than with his muscular strength alone.

·       c. 515 BC: Crane in Ancient Greece

·       6th century BC: A wagonway called Diolkos across the Isthmus of Corinth in Ancient Greece.

5th century BC

·       5th century BC: Crank motion (rotary quern) in Celtiberian Spain

·       5th century BC: Cast iron in Ancient China: Confirmed by archaeological evidence, the earliest cast iron is developed in China by the early 5th century BC during the Zhou Dynasty (1122–256 BC), the oldest specimens found in a tomb of Luhe County in Jiangsu province.

·       5th century BC: Crossbow in Ancient China and Ancient Greece: In Ancient China, the earliest evidence of bronze crossbow bolts dates as early as the mid-5th century BC in Yutaishan, Hubei. In Ancient Greece, the terminus ante quem of the gastraphetes is 421 BC.

·       5th–4th century BC: Traction trebuchet in Ancient China; appeared in the Mediterranean by the 6th century AD.

·       Before 421 BC: Catapult in Ancient Greece (incl. Sicily) or Phoenician Carthage

·       c. 480 BC: Spiral stairs (Temple A) in Selinunte, Sicily (see also List of ancient spiral stairs)

·       400 BC Mirror in Lebanon

4th century BC

·       4th century BC: Gears in China.

·       Approximately 350 BC: Greek hydraulic semaphore system, an optical communication system developed by Aeneas Tacticus.

3rd century BC

An illustration depicting the papermaking process in Han Dynasty China.

·       Early 3rd century BC: Canal lock (possibly pound lock) in Ancient Suez Canal under Ptolemy II (283–246 BC) in Hellenistic Egypt

·       3rd century BC: Valve Tower Sluice in Sri Lanka

·       3rd century BC: Cam during the Hellenistic period, used in water-driven automata.

·       3rd century BC: Water wheel and Liquid-driven escapement in Hellenistic kingdoms described by Philo of Byzantium (c. 280 – 220 BC)

·       3rd–2nd century BC: Blast furnace in Ancient China: The earliest discovered blast furnaces in China date to the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, although most sites are from the later Han Dynasty.

2nd century BC

The earliest fore-and-aft rigs, spritsails, appeared in the 2nd century BC in the Aegean Sea on small Greek craft. Here a spritsail used on a Roman merchant ship (3rd century CE).

2nd century BC: Paper in Han Dynasty China: Although it is recorded that the Han Dynasty (202 BC – AD 220) court eunuch Cai Lun(born c. 50–121 AD) invented the pulp papermaking process and established the use of new raw materials used in making paper, ancient padding and wrapping paper artifacts dating to the 2nd century BC have been found in China, the oldest example of pulp papermaking being a map from Fangmatan, Gansu.

1st century BC

·       1st century BC: Glass blowing discovered on the Lebanese coast.

·       1st century BC: Segmental arch bridge (e.g. Pont-Saint-Martin or Ponte San Lorenzo) in Italy, Roman Republic^[94][95]

·       1st century BC: Arch dam (Glanum Dam) in Gallia Narbonensis, Roman Republic (see also List of Roman dams)

·       150 BC Astrolabe invented in the Hellenistic world.

·       Before 71 BC (possibly 3rd century BC: Watermill (grain mill) by Greek engineers in Eastern Mediterranean(see also List of ancient watermills)

·       Before 25 BC: Reverse overshot water-wheel by Roman engineers in Rio Tinto, Spain

1st millennium AD

1st century

·       1st century: The Aeolipile, a simple steam turbine is recorded by Hero of Alexandria.

·       1st century: Vending machines invented by Hero of Alexandria.

·       1st century: Automatic doors invented by Hero of Alexandria.

2nd century

·       118 AD: Wheelbarrow was found in a tomb at Chengdu, Sichuan province during Han Dynasty China

·       132: Seismometer in Han Dynasty China, built by Zhang Heng. It is a large metal urn-shaped instrument which employed either a suspended pendulum or inverted pendulum acting on inertia, like the ground tremors from earthquakes, to dislodge a metal ball by a lever trip device.

·       2nd century: Law school in Beirut, Roman Empire

3rd century

Schematic of the Roman Hierapolis sawmill. Dated to the 3rd century AD, it is the earliest known machine to incorporate a crank and connecting rod-mechanism.

·       Early 3rd century: Woodblock printing is invented in Han Dynasty China at some time before 220 AD. This made China become the world first print culture.

·       Late 3rd century: Crank and connecting rod (Hierapolis sawmill) in Asia Minor, Roman Empire

·       Late 3rd–early 4th century: Turbine in Africa (province), Roman Empire

4th century

·       4th century: Fishing reel in Ancient China: In literary records, the earliest evidence of the fishing reel comes from a 4th-century AD work entitled Lives of Famous Immortals'.

·       347 AD: Oil Wells and Borehole drilling in China. Such wells could reach depths of up to 240 m (790 ft).

·       4th century: Stirrups in Ancient China: The first dependable representation of a rider with paired stirrups was found in China in a Jin dynasty tomb of about AD 322. The stirrup appeared to be in widespread use across China by AD 477.

·       4th–5th century: Paddle wheel boat (in De rebus bellicis) in Roman Empire^.

5th century

·       5th century: Horse collar in Southern and Northern Dynasties China: The horse collar as a fully developed collar harness is developed in Southern and Northern Dynasties China during the 5th century AD. The earliest depiction of it is a Dunhuang cave mural from the Chinese Northern Wei Dynasty, the painting dated to 477–499.

·       5th/6th century: Pointed arch bridge (Karamagara Bridge) in Cappadocia, Eastern Roman Empire

6th century

A Nepali Charkha in action

·       after 500 AD: Charkha (spinning wheel): invented in India, between 500 and 1000 A.D.

·       563 AD: Pendentive dome (Hagia Sophia) in Constantinople, Eastern Roman Empire

·       577 AD: Sulfur matches exist in China.

·       589 AD: Toilet paper in Sui Dynasty China, first mentioned by the official Yan Zhitui (531–591), with full evidence of continual use in subsequent dynasties.

7th century

·       650 AD Windmill in Persia

·       672 AD: Greek fire in Constantinople, Byzantine Empire: Greek fire, an incendiary weapon likely based on petroleum or naphtha, is invented by Kallinikos, a Lebanese Greek refugee from Baalbek, 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 in Tang Dynasty China: The banknote is first developed in China during the Tang and Song dynasties, starting in the 7th century. Its roots are in merchant receipts of deposit during the Tang Dynasty (618–907), as merchants and wholesalers desire to avoid the heavy bulk of copper coinage in large commercial transactions.

·       7th century: Porcelain in Tang Dynasty China: 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

·       725 AD: Mechanical clock in Tang Dynasty China by Yi Xing and Liang Lingzan.

9th century

A Mongol bomb thrown against a charging Japanese samurai during the Mongol invasions of Japan after founding the Yuan Dynasty, 1281.

·       9th century: Gunpowder in Tang Dynasty China: Gunpowder is, according to prevailing academic consensus, discovered in the 9th century by Chinese alchemists searching for an elixir of immortality. 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, a military manuscript compiled in 1044 during the Song Dynasty (960–1279).

·       9th century: Algebra in Syria

·       9th century: University in Morocco

·       9th century: Numerical zero in Ancient India: The concept of zero as a number, and not merely a symbol for separation is attributed to India. In India, practical calculations are carried out using zero, which is treated like any other number by the 9th century, even in case of division.

10th century

·       10th century: Fire lance in Song Dynasty China, developed in the 10th century with a tube of first bamboo and later on metal that shot a weak gunpowder blast of flame and shrapnel, its earliest depiction is a painting found at Dunhuang. Fire lance is the earliest firearm in the world and one of the earliest gunpowder weapons.

·       10th century: Fireworks in Song Dynasty China: Fireworks first appear in China during the Song Dynasty (960–1279), in the early age of gunpowder. Fireworks could be purchased from market vendors; these were made of sticks of bamboo packed with gunpowder.

·       10th century: Dry docks in Song Dynasty China.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_historic_inventions

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader