The end of the
Last Glacial Period ("ice age") and the beginning of the
Holocene 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 in the
Fertile Crescent •
10,000 BC – 9000 BC: Domestication of sheep in
Southwest Asia (followed shortly by pigs, goats and cattle) •
10,000 - 9000 BC: Alcohol fermentation – specifically
mead, in
Southwest Asia •
9500 BC – 9000 BC: Oldest known surviving building –
Göbekli Tepe, in
Turkey •
9000 BC – 6000 BC: Domestication of rice in
China •
9000 BC: Mudbricks (unfired bricks), and clay
mortar in
Jericho. •
8400 BC: Oldest known water
well in
Cyprus. •
8040–7510 BC: The
Pesse canoe 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 – large permanent settlements, such as
Tell es-Sultan (Jericho) and
Çatalhöyük, Turkey. •
8000–5000 BC: Domestication of
potatoes, in southern
Peru and northwestern
Bolivia by pre-Columbian farmers, around
Lake Titicaca. •
7500–6500 BC: Copper tools, by the people of the
Old Copper Complex from the Great Lakes region of North America. •
7000 BC: Sled dog and
Dog sled, in Siberia. •
6500 BC: Evidence of
lead smelting in
Çatalhöyük,
Turkey •
6000 BC: Kiln in
Mesopotamia (Iraq) •
6th millennium BC: Irrigation in
Khuzistan,
Iran •
6000 BC – 3200 BC: Proto-writing in present-day Egypt, Iraq, Romania, China, India and Pakistan. •
5900 – 5600 BC: Oldest evidence of
salt production found in Southeastern Europe, in the countries of
Moldova and
Romania. •
5500 – 5200 BC: Oldest evidence of
cheese found, in
Poland and on the
Dalmatian coast of
Croatia. •
5500 BC: Sailing - pottery depictions of sail boats, in
Mesopotamia, and later
ancient Egypt •
5000 BC: Copper smelting in
Serbia. •
5000 BC: Seawall in
Tel Hreiz, near Haifa, Israel. •
5th millennium BC: Lacquer in China •
5000 BC: Cotton thread, in
Mehrgarh, Indus Valley, connecting the copper beads of a bracelet. •
5000 BC – 4500 BC: Rowing oars in China •
4500 BC – 3500 BC: Lost-wax casting in
Palestine or the
Indus Valley •
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, in and around the Mesopotamian city of
Ur, Iraq. •
4000 BC: Plumbing. 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, the capital of ancient
Assyria. •
4000 BC – 3400 BC: Oldest evidence of
wheels, found in the countries of
Ukraine,
Poland, and
Germany. •
3630 BC: Silk garments (
sericulture) in China •
3500 BC: Probable first
domestication of the horse in the Eurasian Steppes. •
3500 BC: Wine as
general anaesthesia in Sumer. •
3500 BC: Seal (emblem) invented around in the
Near East, at the contemporary sites of
Uruk in southern
Mesopotamia and slightly later at
Susa in south-western
Iran during the
Proto-Elamite period, and they follow the development of
stamp seals in the
Halaf culture or slightly earlier. •
3500 BC: Ploughing, on a site in
Bubeneč, Czech Republic. Evidence, c. 2800 BC, has also been found at
Kalibangan, Indus Valley (modern-day India). •
3400 BC – 3100 BC: Tattoos in southern Europe
Bronze Age of
Istanbul, Turkey 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 starting in Eurasia in the 4th millennia BC and ended, in Eurasia, c.1200 BC. •
Late 4th millennium BC: Writing – in
Sumer and
Egypt. •
3300 BC: The first documented
swords. They have been found in
Arslantepe, Turkey, are made from
arsenical bronze, and are about long. Some of them are inlaid with
silver. •
3250 BC: One of the earliest documented
hats was worn by a man (nicknamed
Ötzi) 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
Latrines in the city of
Uruk, Iraq, with later dry squat
Toilets, 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. Perhaps the oldest known dice, resembling modern ones, were excavated as part of a
backgammon-like game set at the
Burnt City, an archeological site in south-eastern
Iran, estimated to be from between 2800 and 2500 BC. Later, terracotta dice were used at the Indus Valley site of
Mohenjo-daro (modern-day Pakistan). •
3000 BC: Tin extraction in
Central Asia •
3000 BC – 2560 BC: Papyrus in Egypt •
3000 BC: Reservoir in
Girnar, Indus Valley. •
3000 BC: Receipt in Ancient
Mesopotamia (
Iraq) •
3000 BC – 2800 BC: Prosthesis first documented in the
Ancient Near East, 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 in Egypt. •
2650 BC: The
Ruler, or
Measuring rod, in the subdivided
Nippur, copper rod, of the
Sumerian Civilisation (modern-day Iraq). •
2600 BC: Planned city in Indus Valley. •
2600 BC: Public sewage and sanitation systems in Indus Valley sites such as
Mohenjo-daro and
Rakhigarhi. •
2600 BC: Public bath in
Mohenjo-daro, Indus Valley (modern-day
Pakistan). •
2600 BC: Levee in Indus Valley. •
2600 BC: Balance weights and scales, from the
Fourth Dynasty of Egypt; examples of
Deben (unit) balance weights, from reign of
Sneferu (c. 2600 BC) have been attributed. •
2556 BC: Docks structure in
Wadi al-Jarf, Egypt, which was developed by the reign of the Pharaoh
Khufu. •
2400 BC: Fork in
Bronze Age Qijia culture in
China •
2400 BC: Copper pipes, the
Pyramid of Sahure, an adjoining temple complex at
Abusir, was discovered to have a network of copper drainage pipes. •
2300 BC: Dictionary in
Mesopotamia. •
2200 BC – 2000 BC: Iron smelting in
Kaman-Kalehöyük. •
2200 BC: Protractor, Phase IV,
Lothal, 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 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 in
Russia and
Kazakhstan •
2000 BC: Scissors, in
Mesopotamia. •
1850 BC: Proto-alphabet (
Proto-Sinaitic script) in Egypt. •
1600 BC: Surgical treatise appeared in Egypt. •
1500 BC: Sundial in
Ancient Egypt or
Babylonia (modern-day Iraq). •
1500 BC: Glass manufacture in either
Mesopotamia or
Ancient Egypt. •
1500 BC: Seed drill in
Babylonia. •
1400 BC: Rubber, •
1400 BC – 1200 BC: Concrete in
Tiryns (Mycenaean Greece), •
1300 BC: Lathe in Ancient Egypt. •
1200 BC: Distillation is described on
Akkadian tablets documenting perfumery operations.
Iron Age The
Late Bronze Age collapse 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. 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 —
Three Stars Each is the earliest known catalogue in long-running tradition of
Babylonian astronomy, likely drawing on Sumerian and/or Elamite constellations. •
700 BC: Saddle (fringed cloths or pads used by
Assyrian cavalry). •
7th century BC: The royal
Library of Ashurbanipal at
Nineveh had 30,000 clay tablets, in several languages, organized according to shape and separated by content. The first recorded example of a
library catalog. •
688 BC: Waterproof concrete in use, by the Assyrians. Later, the Romans developed concretes that could set underwater, and used concrete extensively for construction from 300 BC to 476 AD. •
650 BC: Crossbow in
China. •
600 BC: Coins in
Phoenicia (Modern Lebanon) or
Lydia. •
Late 7th or early 6th century BC: Wagonway called
Diolkos across the
Isthmus of Corinth in
Ancient Greece. , a single man tripled the weight he could lift than with his muscular strength alone. •
6th century BC – 10th century AD: High Carbon Steel, produced by the
Closed Crucible method, later known as
Wootz steel, of
South India. •
6th century – 2nd century BC: Systematization of medicine and surgery in the
Sushruta Samhita in Vedic Northern India. Documented procedures to: • Perform
cataract surgery (
couching). Babylonian and Egyptian texts, a millennium before, depict and mention oculists, but not the procedure itself. • Perform
Caesarean section. •
Late 6th century BC: Crank motion (
rotary quern) in
Carthage or 5th century BC
Celtiberian Spain 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 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 (modern-day India) although may have originated as early as 500 BC. •
485 BC: Catapult by
Ajatashatru in
Magadha,
India. •
485 BC: Scythed chariot by
Ajatashatru in
Magadha,
India. •
480 BC: Spiral stairs (Temple A) in
Selinunte,
Sicily (see also
List of ancient spiral stairs) •
By 407 BC: Early descriptions of what may be a
Wheelbarrow in Greece. First actual depiction of one (tomb mural) shows up in
China in 118 AD. •
By 400 BC: Camera obscura described by Mo-tzu (or
Mozi) in China.
4th century BC •
400 and 300 BC: Invention of the concept of
zero in
Babylon (now Iraq). It was invented independently by the
Maya in the first few centuries AD. •
4th century BC: Traction trebuchet in
Ancient China. •
4th century BC: Gears in
Ancient China. •
4th century BC: Reed pens, utilising a split nib, were used to write with ink on
Papyrus in Egypt. •
375 BC – 350 BC: Animal-driven rotary mill in Carthage. •
By the late 4th century BC: Corporations in either the
Maurya Empire of India or in Ancient Rome (
Collegium). •
Late 4th century BC: Cheque in the
Maurya Empire of India. •
Late 4th century BC: Formal systems by
Pāṇini in India, possibly during the reign of
Chandragupta Maurya. •
4th to 3rd century BC: Zinc production in North-Western
India during the
Maurya Empire. The earliest known zinc mines and smelting sites are from Zawar, near
Udaipur, in
Rajasthan.
3rd century BC •
3rd century BC: Analog computers in the Hellenistic world (see e.g. the
Antikythera mechanism), possibly in
Rhodes. •
By at least the 3rd century BC: Archimedes' screw, one of the earliest
hydraulic machines, was first used in the Nile river for irrigation purposes in
Ancient Egypt •
Early 3rd century BC: Canal lock in
Canal of the Pharaohs under
Ptolemy II (283–246 BC) in
Hellenistic Egypt •
3rd century BC: Cam during the
Hellenistic period, used in water-driven
automata. •
By the 3rd century BC: Water wheel. 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 (c. 280 – 220 BC) in the Hellenistic kingdoms. •
3rd century BC: Gimbal described by Philo of Byzantium •
Late 3rd century BC: Dry dock under
Ptolemy IV (221–205 BC) in
Hellenistic Egypt •
3rd century BC – 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. s,
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 AD).
2nd century BC •
2nd century BC: Paper in
Han dynasty China •
206 BC: Compass in
Han dynasty China •
Early 2nd century BC: Astrolabe invented by
Apollonius of Perga 1st century BC •
1st century BC: Segmental
arch bridge (e.g.
Pont-Saint-Martin or
Ponte San Lorenzo) in
Italy,
Roman Republic •
1st century BC: News bulletin during the reign of Julius Caesar. A paper form, i.e. the earliest
newspaper, later appeared during the late Han dynasty in the form of the
Dibao. •
1st century BC: Arch dam (
Glanum Dam) in
Gallia Narbonensis,
Roman Republic (see also
List of Roman dams) •
Before 40 BC: Trip hammer in
China •
37 BC – 14 BC: Glass blowing developed in Jerusalem. •
Before 25 BC: Reverse overshot water wheel by
Roman engineers in
Rio Tinto, Spain •
25 BC: Noodle in
Lajia in
China 1st century AD •
1st century AD: The
aeolipile, a simple
steam turbine is recorded by Hero of Alexandria. •
1st century AD: The first use of
respiratory protective equipment is documented by
Pliny the Elder (–79) using animal bladder skins to protect workers in Roman mines from red lead oxide dust. •
1st century AD: Oldest surviving
wine. •
1st century AD: Vending machines invented by
Hero of Alexandria 2nd century •
132: Seismometer and
pendulum 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: Carding in India.
3rd century . Dated to the 3rd century AD, it is the earliest known machine to incorporate a
crank and
connecting rod mechanism. •
By at least the 3rd century: Crystallized sugar in India. •
Early 3rd century: Woodblock printing is invented in
Han dynasty China at sometime before 220 AD. This made China become the world's first
print culture. •
Late 3rd century – Early 4th century: Water turbine in the
Roman Empire in modern-day
Tunisia.
4th century •
280 – 550: Chaturanga, a precursor of
Chess was invented in India during the
Gupta Empire. •
4th century: Roman
Dichroic glass, which displays one of two different colors depending on lighting conditions. •
4th century: Simple suspension bridge, independently invented in Pre-Columbian South America, and the
Hindu Kush range, of present-day
Afghanistan and
Pakistan. With Han dynasty travelers noting bridges being constructed from 3 or more vines or 3 ropes. Later bridges constructed utilizing cables of iron chains appeared in Tibet. •
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: Oil Wells and
Borehole drilling in
China. Such wells could reach depths of up to 240 m (790 ft). • 4th century – 5th century:
Paddle wheel boat (in
De rebus bellicis) in
Roman Empire 5th century •
400: The construction of the
Iron pillar of Delhi in
Mathura by the
Gupta Empire shows the development of rust-resistant ferrous metallurgy in Ancient India, The earliest depiction of it is a
Dunhuang cave
mural from the Chinese
Northern Wei dynasty, the
painting dated to 477–499. •
5th century – 6th century: Pointed arch bridge (
Karamagara Bridge) in
Cappadocia,
Eastern Roman Empire Charkha in action
6th century •
By the 6th century: Incense clock in China. •
After 500: Charkha (spinning wheel/cotton gin) invented in India (probably during the
Vakataka dynasty of
Maharashtra, India), between 500 and 1000 A.D. •
563: Pendentive dome (
Hagia Sophia) in
Constantinople,
Eastern Roman Empire •
577: Sulfur matches exist in
China •
589: 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 •
619: Toothbrush in
China during the
Tang dynasty •
672: 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 9th century ese
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: Playing card in
Tang dynasty China 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. •
974: Fountain pen: invented at the request of
al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah in
Arab Egypt.
11th century •
11th century: Early versions of the
Bessemer process are developed in China. •
11th century: Endless power-transmitting chain drive by
Su Song for the development an astronomical clock (the
Cosmic Engine) •
11th century: Calico was developed in
Calicut, India. •
1088: Movable type in
Song dynasty China: The first record of a movable type system is in the
Dream Pool Essays, which attributes the invention of the movable type to
Bi Sheng.
12th century 13th century •
13th century: Rocket for military and recreational uses date back to at least 13th-century China. •
13th century: The earliest form of
mechanical escapement, the
verge escapement in
Europe. •
13th century: Buttons (combined with buttonholes) as a functional fastening for closing clothes appear first in
Germany. •
13th century: Explosive bomb in
Jin dynasty Manchuria: Explosive bombs are used in 1221 by the
Jin dynasty against a
Song dynasty 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. •
13th century: Hand cannon in
Yuan dynasty China: The earliest hand cannon dates to the 13th century based on archaeological evidence from a
Heilongjiang 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, 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: Double-entry bookkeeping in Italy. •
13th century - 14th century: Worm gear cotton gin in India. •
1277: Land mine in
Song dynasty China: 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 in 1277. •
1286: Eyeglasses in
Italy 14th century •
Early 14th century – Mid 14th century: Huolongchushui, the first
Multistage rocket, was developed in
Ming dynasty China and described in
Huolongjing by
Jiao Yu. • The oldest known representation of a bombard is a 12th-century (circa 1128 AD) high-relief sculpture found in the
Dazu Rock Carvings in
Sichuan,
China. •
14th century: Painting
Canvas was first used in
Italy. •
14th century: Jacob's staff described by
Levi ben Gerson •
14th century: Naval mine in
Ming dynasty Mentioned in the
Huolongjing military manuscript written by
Jiao Yu (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 and enclosed in an ox bladder. A later model is documented in
Song Yingxing's encyclopedia written in 1637. •
14th century: Bidriware in the
Bahmani Sultanate in
India. •
1364: first use of a
handgun with
movable type by the German
Johannes Gutenberg.
15th century •
Early 15th century: Coil spring in
Europe •
15th century: Mainspring in Europe •
1439: Printing press in
Mainz, Germany: The printing press is invented in the
Holy Roman Empire by
Johannes Gutenberg before 1440, based on existing
screw presses. •
Mid 15th century: The
Arquebus (also spelled Harquebus) is invented, possibly in Spain. •
1480s: Mariner's astrolabe in
Portuguese circumnavigation of Africa ==Early modern era==