History of Invention
Date Description
0038 Hydraulic-powered bellows invented by Du Shi
77 First encyclopaedic work by Pliny the Elder
105 Paper by Cai Lun
132 Rudimentary seismometer by Zhang Heng
180 Rotary fan by Ding Huan
589 Toilet Paper by Yan Zhitui
618 Porcelain
673 Greek fire flamethrower invented by Kallinikos of Heliopolis
700 Quill pen
721 Distilled alcohol by Jābir ibn Hayyān
754 The first Pharmacy in Baghdad
758 Tar pavement in Baghdad
763 Psychiatric hospital: Bimaristan in Baghdad
800 Sine quadrant by Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī
857 Under-arm deodorant: Ziryab
857 Beauty parlour: Ziryab
873 Programmable machine: Banū Mūsā
873 Gas mask: Banū Mūsā
873 Self-feeding oil lamp: Banū Mūsā
810 Glass from stones: Abbas Ibn Firnas
827 Mechanical singing bird automaton: Al-Ma'mun
875 Hang glider: Abbas Ibn Firnas
887 Metronome: Abbas Ibn Firnas
904 Fire Arrow in China
919 Double-piston flamethrower in China
953 Fountain pen: Al-Muizz Lideenillah of Egypt
989 Multidomed church
994 Astronomical sextant: Abu-Mahmud al-Khujandi
1000 Ligatures by Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi
1000 Adhesive plaster: Abu al-Qasim
1020 Heliocentric astrolabe: Al-Sijzi[
1048 Orthographical astrolabe: Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī
1021 Magnifying glass: Ibn al-Haytham
1021 Pinhole camera: Ibn al-Haytham
1038 Flywheel invented by Ibn Bassal in Al-Andalus
1041 Movable type printing press: Bi Sheng in China
1044 Hand grenade: Zhen Tian Lei in China
1088 Mechanical clock by Su Song
1100 Framed bead abacus in China
1126 Rocket: Li Gang in China
1200 Glass mirror in Europe
1232 Rocket launcher in China
1260 Explosive gunpowder in Egypt
1274 Siege cannon: Abu Yaqub Yusuf
1275 Torpedo invented by Hasan al-Rammah of Syria
1297 Wooden movable type printing: Wang Zhen of China
1350 Rope bridge in Peru
1355 Multistage rocket: Jiao Yu and Liu Ji
1400 Planetary analog computer: Jamshīd al-Kāshī
1405 Treasure ship: Zheng He
1430 Vodka: Isidore in Russia
1450 Alphabetic movable type printing press: Johannes Gutenberg
1451 Concave lens for eyeglasses: Nicholas of Cusa
1494 Double-entry bookkeeping system: Luca Pacioli
1498 Bristle toothbrush: Hongzhi Emperor
1500 Ball bearing invented by Leonardo Da Vinci
1540 Ether: Valerius Cordus
1551 Steam turbine: Taqi al-Din in Ottoman Egypt
1565 Pencil invented by Conrad Gesner
1579 Prefabricated home: Akbar the Great
1592 Ironclad Warship: Yi Sun-sin
1596 Water closet: John Harrington
1608 Telescope invented by Hans Lippershey, Zacharias Janssen, Jacob Metius
1610 Flintlock: Marin le Bourgeoys
1620 Slide rule: William Oughtred
1623 Automatic calculator: Wilhelm Schickard
1631 Vernier scale devised by Pierre Vernier
1642 Adding machine: Blaise Pascal
1643 Barometer: Evangelista Torricelli
1645 Vacuum pump: Otto von Guericke
1657 Pendulum clock: Christiaan Huygens
1672 Steam car: Ferdinand Verbiest
1679 Pressure cooker: Denis Papin
1698 Steam engine powered water pump invented by Thomas Savery
1700 Bartolomeo Cristofori invents the Piano
1700 Water-based central heating invented in Russia
1709 Iron smelting using coke: Abraham Darby I
1711 Tuning fork: John Shore
1712 Steam piston engine: Thomas Newcomen
1714 Mercury thermometer: Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit
1717 Mechanic slide rest invented by Andrey Nartov
1731 Octant: John Hadley, Thomas Godfrey
1732 Cast iron dome: Akinfiy Demidov
1737 Marine chronometer: John Harrison
1739 Ice palace: Anna of Russia and architect Pyotr Yeropkin
1742 Franklin stove: Benjamin Franklin
1752 Lightning rod: Benjamin Franklin
1754 Coaxial rotor / Model helicopter: Mikhail Lomonosov
1762 Off-axis reflecting telescope: Mikhail Lomonosov
1764 Spinning jenny: James Hargreaves/Thomas Highs
1766 Ivan Polzunov invents the two-cylinder engine
1769 Water frame: Richard Arkwright/Thomas Highs
1776 Steamboat invented by Claude de Jouffroy
1776 Watt steam engine: James Watt
1777 Circular saw: Samuel Miller
1780 Iron-cased rocket: Tipu Sultan in India
1783 Hot air balloon: Montgolfier brothers
1784 Bifocals: Benjamin Franklin
1785 Automatic flour mill: Oliver Evans
1791 Artificial teeth: Nicholas Dubois De Chemant
1798 Vaccination by Edward Jenner