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ID | Date | Discovery / Invention | Individual | Location (Empire) | Notes | Deps | Type (Discovery/Invention/Social/Technique) | Soft/hard? | Field | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
biped | 4000000 BCE | Bipedal species emerged | ||||||||
stone-tool | 2000000 BCE | Stone tools used | biped | Invention | ||||||
fire | 500000 BCE | Fire tamed | stone-tool | Invention | ||||||
religion | 200000 BCE | Religion | fire | Social | Soft | |||||
art | 20000 BCE | Art | stone-tool | Social | Soft | |||||
bow | 20000 BCE | Bows and arrows used | stone-tool | Invention | War | |||||
oil-lamp | 20000 BCE | Oil lamps invented | stone-tool | Invention | ||||||
animal-dom | 12000 BCE | Animals domesticated | Not horses. Maybe dogs and oxen? | biped | Technique | Agriculture | ||||
agriculture | 8000 BCE | Agriculture developed | animal-dom | Technique | Agriculture | |||||
pottery | 7000 BCE | Pottery used | biped | Invention | Culture | |||||
fish-nets | 6000 BCE | Linen cords used for nets | stone-tool | Invention | Agriculture | |||||
raft | 6000 BCE | Rafts invented | stone-tool | Invention | Transportation | |||||
sickle | 6000 BCE | Sickles invented | stone-tool | Invention | Agriculture | |||||
irrigation | 5000 BCE | Irrigation used | agriculture | Technique | Agriculture | |||||
scales | 5000 BCE | Scales for measurement developed | stone-tool | Technique | Soft | Math | ||||
copper | 4000 BCE | Copper obtained from ore | stone-tool | Technique | ||||||
sundial | 4000 BCE | Sundial invented | stone-tool | Invention | Navigation | |||||
bronze | 3600 BCE | Bronze discovered | copper | Technique | ||||||
carts | 3500 BCE | Wheeled carts invented | stone-tool | Invention | Agriculture | |||||
river-boat | 3500 BCE | River boats invented (on the Nile) | raft | Invention | Transportation | |||||
writing | 3500 BCE | Writing developed | animal-dom | Social | Soft | |||||
plough | 3500 BCE | Ploughs invented | agriculture | Invention | Agriculture | |||||
nation | 3100 BCE | First nation established | Egypt | agriculture | Institution | Soft | ||||
candle | 3000 BCE | Candles invented | animal-dom | Invention | ||||||
calendar | 2800 BCE | Calendar invented | writing | Invention | ||||||
stone-monument | 2650 BCE | Stone monuments constructed | religion | Soft | ||||||
literature | 2500 BCE | Literature developed | writing | Institution | Soft | |||||
glass | 2500 BCE | Glass invented | fire | |||||||
empire | 2340 BCE | First empire established | Sargon | Akkad | nation | Institution | Soft | |||
horse-tamed | 2000 BCE | Horses tamed | animal-dom | Soft | Transportation | |||||
numbers | 1800 BCE | First number system developed | Egypt | Base 60 | writing | Math | ||||
fermentation | 1800 BCE | Use of fermentation discovered | According to Wikipedia, fermentation was used in 6000 BCE in China. Sigh. | agriculture | Chemistry | |||||
law | 1775 BCE | First surviving law code established | King Hammurabi | Babylon | writing | Soft | ||||
medicine | 1550 BCE | First surviving account of medical remedies | Eber’s Papyrus | animal-dom | Soft | Medicine | ||||
alphabet | 1500 BCE | Phonetic alphabet developed | Phonecian alphabet | writing | Social | Soft | ||||
monotheism | 1375 BCE | Monotheism espoused | Pharoah Amenhotep IV | Egypt | religion | Social | Soft | |||
dye | 1200 BCE | Dyes resistant to sun and water invented | Invention | |||||||
sea-navigation | 1100 BCE | Sea navigation | Phonecians | river-boat | Navigation | |||||
steel | 1000 BCE | Steel invented | Iron Age begins | bronze | ||||||
arches | 750 BCE | Architectural arches built | Etruscans | stone-monument | Architecture | |||||
aqueducts | 700 BCE | Aqueducts built | stone-monument | Architecture | ||||||
zoo | 700 BCE | Zoos built | Sennacherib | Assyria | animal-dom | Architecture | ||||
sundial?? | 700 BCE | Sundials invented | Navigation | |||||||
library | 640 BCE | Library built | Ashurbanipal | Assyria | literature | Architecture | ||||
coin | 640 BCE | Coins used (Currency) | Lydian government issued pieces of gold w/ standard weight | numbers | Soft | |||||
eclipse | 585 BCE | Solar eclipse predicted | Thales | Greece | numbers | Soft | Space | |||
water-element | 580 BCE | Water as an element theorized | Soft | Chemistry | ||||||
irrational-numbers | 520 BCE | Irrational numbers defined | Pythagoras | Greece | Unit isoceles right triangle with hypotenuse sqrt(1) | numbers | Math | |||
realistic-maps | 510 BCE | Realistic maps developed | Hecateus | Greece | writing | Navigation | ||||
ocean-navigation | 500 BCE | Ocean navigation | Phonecia | Early exploration of the Atlantic ocean | sea-navigation | Soft | Navigation | |||
cadaver | 500 BCE | Human cadaver dissection | Alcmaeon | Greece | medicine | Medicine | ||||
abacus | 500 BCE | Abacus invented | Earliest: Greece | numbers | Math | |||||
venus-named | 500 BCE | Venus named (should this be here?) | Pythagoras | Greece | I guess it’s significant that the evening star and morning star were identified... | Space | ||||
dream-interpretation | 480 BCE | Rational interpretation of dreams theorized (???) | Again, why is this here? | Philosophy | ||||||
rationalism | 440 BCE | Rationalism (everything has a non-divine cause) | Leucippus | Greece | religion | Philosophy | ||||
atom | 440 BCE | Atoms theorized (the world is made of indivisible particles) | Democritus | Greece | ||||||
epilepsy | 420 BCE | Epilepsy the disease discovered | Medicine | |||||||
catapult | 400 BCE | Catapult invented | Under Dionysius | Greece | numbers | Invention | War | |||
university | 387 BCE | University built | Plato | Greece | library | Institution | ||||
heliocentricity | 350 BCE | Heliocentricity theorized | Philolaus | Greece | Discovery | Space | ||||
spherical-earth | 350 BCE | Spherical earth theorized | Pythagoras | Greece | Discovery | Geography | ||||
logic | 350 BCE | Logic | Aristotle | Greece | numbers | Technique | Math | |||
five-elements | 350 BCE | Five elements theorized | Aristotle | Greece | atom | Discovery | Chemistry | |||
animal-classification | 350 BCE | Animal classification theorized | Aristotle | Greece | animal-dom | Discovery | Biology | |||
star-maps | 350 BCE | Star maps developed | Eudoxus | Greece | realistic-maps | Technique | Space | |||
botany | 320 BCE | Botany book written | Theophrastus | Greece | Biology | |||||
paved-road | 312 BCE | Paved roads built | Appius Claudius | Greece | Appian Way | stone-monument | Invention | |||
geometry | 300 BCE | Geometry | Euclid | Greece | logic | Technique | Math | |||
tides | 300 BCE | Tides discovered | Pytheas | Greece | ocean-navigation | Navigation | ||||
arteries-veins | 300 BCE | Arteries vs veins discovered | Praxagoras | Greece | Soft | Medicine | ||||
brain-areas | 280 BCE | Parts of brain named discovered | Erasistratus, Herophilus | Greece | Medicine | |||||
moon-sun-size | 280 BCE | Size of moon and sun estimated | Aristarchus | Greece | Space | |||||
lighthouse | 280 BCE | Lighthouses built | Greece | Lighthouse of Alexandria (at Pharos) | ocean-navigation | Navigation | ||||
water-clock | 270 BCE | Water clock invented | Ctesibius | Greece | sundial | |||||
lever-math | 260 BCE | Lever mathematics understood | Archimedes | Greece | logic | Math | ||||
earth-size | 240 BCE | Size of earth estimated | Eratosthenes | Greece | geometry | Geography | ||||
year-number | 240 BCE | Standardized year numbering created | Seleucus I | Greece | Formerly "the seventh year of King X" | calendar | ||||
great-wall | 214 BCE | Great Wall of China begun (should this be here?) | Shih Huang Ti | China | stone-monument | Architecture | ||||
parchment | 170 BCE | Parchment invented | Eumenes II | Pergamum (Hellnistic) | Previously papyrus, now animal skin. | animal-dom | ||||
moon-distance | 150 BCE | Distance to the moon estimated | Hipparchus | Greece | geometry | Space | ||||
star-maps-better | 134 BCE | Star maps significantly improved | Hipparchus | Greece | Including magnitudes (brightnesses), included 1000 stars | star-maps | Space | |||
glass-blowing | 100 BCE | Glass blowing invented | Syria (Hellenistic) | Previously glass making was done by hand | glass | |||||
water-wheel | 85 BCE | Water wheels invented | First written mention, likely invented earlier. According to wikipedia, MUCH earlier. | carts | Power | |||||
julian-calendar | 46 BCE | Julian calendar (including leap year) adopted | Sosigenes | Greece | year-number | |||||
climactic-zone | 25 CE | Climactic zones first suggested | Pomponius Mela | Greece | realistic-maps | |||||
medicinal-plants | 50 CE | Medical applications of plants | Pedanius Dioscorides | Greece | Described 600 plants, 1000 drugs | fermentation | Medicine | |||
steam-engine | 50 CE | Rudimentary steam engine invented | Hero | Greece | Worked like a modern lawn sprinkler, had no bearing on society | fire | Power | |||
paper | 105 CE | Paper invented | Thai Lun | China | Took 1000 years to reach Europe | parchment | ||||
geocentric-universe | 140 CE | Geocentric universe model suggested | Ptolemy | Greece | Remained canon for 14 centuries | star-maps-better | Space | |||
spinal-cord | 180 CE | Understanding of spinal cord and other basic anatomy | Galen | Greece | Cut animals’ spines to see resulting paralysis | Medicine | ||||
algebra | 250 CE | Algebra formalized | Diophantus | Greece | Fractions can be treated as numbers. | geometry | Math | |||
tea | 250 CE | Tea invented | China | Reduced infection since it required water to be boiled | ||||||
alchemy | 300 CE | Alchemy summarized (???) | Zosimus | Greece | Unclear why this matters. | five-elements | Chemistry | |||
metal-stirrup | 300 CE | Metal stirrups invented | China | More stability for the rider, less chance to be thrown off horse in battle | steel | Transportation | ||||
wheelbarrow | 400 CE | Wheelbarrows invented | China | Potentially much earlier than 400 CE. | steel | Farming | ||||
dome | 537 CE | Architectural domes first built | Emperor Justinian (funder) | Rome | Hagia Sophia | geometry | Architecture | |||
silk-europe | 552 CE | Silk came to Europe from China via Silk Road | Emperor Justinian (funder) | Rome/China | Constantinople began silk production | Trade | ||||
turnplow | 600 CE | Moldboard plows (Turnplow) | Slavs | A plow with a vertical knife-blade that cut deep into the earth. Useful for damp, moist ground, led to increase in carrying capacity | plough | Farming | ||||
greek-fire | 673 CE | Greek fire, a napalm like weapon for naval battle | Callnicus | Byzantium | catapult | War | ||||
porcelain | 700 CE | Porcelain invented | China | Eventually came to Europe, known as “China” and replaced wood dishes | pottery | |||||
acetic-acid | 750 CE | Acetic acid discovered | Jamir bin Hayyan (Geber) | Arabia | Found accidentally, while trying to find an alchemic elixir of life | fermentation | Chemistry | |||
iron-horseshoes | 770 CE | Iron horseshoes invented | Europe??? | (Outside of Asimov: Frankish King Childeric in 550 CE) | steel | |||||
zero | 810 CE | Zero first used in positional notation | Muhammad bin Al-Khwarizmi | Arabia | Around 500 zero as a symbol was invented in India. | algebra | Math | |||
coffee | 850 CE | Coffee discovered | Arabia | Muslims didn’t know about tea, couldn’t drink alcohol, so needed some water that was treated. | ||||||
arctic-circle | 870 CE | First crossing into the arctic circle | Ottar | Viking | ocean-navigation | Geography | ||||
iceland-settled | 847 CE | First settlement established on Iceland | Ingolfur Arnarson | Viking | Europe’s first expansion to new land overseas. Iceland first discovered around 550 CE by Brendan, an Irishman | ocean-navigation | Geography | |||
horse-collar | 900 CE | Horse collars invented | Europe? | Allowed horses to pull by their shoulders not their windpipe, increasing pulling capacity by 5x | plough | |||||
greenland | 982 CE | Greenland discovered | Erik the Red | Viking | iceland-settled | Geography | ||||
newfoundland | 1000 CE | Newfoundland and Labrador discovered | Leif Ericksson | Viking | iceland-settled | Geography | ||||
optics | 1025 CE | Human vision understood and vision correcting lenses invented | Alhazen | Arabia | Foundation of the field of optics | glass-blowing | Medicine | |||
crossbow | 1050 CE | Crossbows invented | France | First mechanized handheld weapon. Range of 300m, penetrated chainmail | lever-math | War | ||||
new-star | 1054 CE | Creation of a new star witnessed | China | Went unnoticed in Europe | Space | |||||
bright-comet | 1066 CE | Bright comet seen (???) | Nomandy | Space | ||||||
gunpowder | 1044 CE | Gunpowder invented | China | Used by the Chinese in war mostly to scare the mongols (not efficient weapons) | fire | War | ||||
fork | 1071 CE | Forks in europe | Byzantoum | Originated in Byzantium, arrived in Venice. Replaced eating with fingers | steel | |||||
flying-buttress | 1137 CE | Flying buttresses first constructed | Suger | France | St. Denis in 1137. | dome | Technique | Architecture | ||
windmill | 1180 CE | Windmills in Europe | Persia | Actually invented around 700, brought to France from persia. Alternative power to water wheels | water-wheel | Invention | Power | |||
compass | 1180 CE | Magnetic compasses first used for navigation | Alexander Neckham | England | Thales of Greece discovered magnetixation of metal. Chinese discovered N-S orientation. | ocean-navigation | Invention | Navigation | ||
spitzbergen | 1194 CE | Spitz bergen discovered | Vikings | Extremely far north islands at 79 degrees N | ocean-navigation | Geography | ||||
arab-numbers | 1202 CE | Arabic numerals arrive to Europe | Al-Khwarizmi | Arabia | Popularized by Fibonacci, but existed in parallel with Roman numerals for 3 centuries | zero | Math | |||
coal-mining | 1228 CE | Coal mining first begins | England | First mined in Newcastle. Important in England since land was being deforested. | fire | |||||
rudder | 1241 CE | Rudders for boats first used in Europe | Arabia | Likely brought back from crusades. Widely used by ships of Hanseatic League | ocean-navigation | Invention | Navigation | |||
eyeglass | 1249 CE | Eyeglasses invented | Roger Bacon | England | Invented in China around the same time. Only convex. | glass-blowing | Optics | |||
gunpowder-europe | 1249 CE | Gunpowder brought to Europe | China | Perfected by Europeans to make it a serious weapon | gunpowder | War | ||||
planetary-table | 1252 CE | Planetary tables improved | Alfonso X (funder) | Castile | More accurate than Ptolemy's geocentric model | geocentric-universe | Discovery | Space | ||
magnetic-pole | 1269 CE | Magnetic poles discovered, magnetic compass improved | Pelerin de Maricourt | France | Proto-experimental science | compass | Discovery | Navigation | ||
mirror | 1291 CE | Mirrors invented | Venice | Previously all glass was colored, but with clear glass, all it took was a backing metal surface | glass-blowing | Invention | ||||
far-east | 1298 CE | Far east discovered by Europeans | Marco Polo | Venice | Far east became a wonder-goal for European dreamers | Discovery | Geography | |||
spinning-wheel | 1298 CE | Spinning wheels invented | Europe | Previously done by hand, spinning wheels made the process much easier | lever-math | Invention | ||||
longbow | 1298 CE | Longbows invented | Wales | Twice the range of a crossbow, far greater force. Big implications for war | crossbow | Invention | ||||
sulfuric-acid | 1300 CE | Sulfuric acid discovered | "False Geber" | Arabia | Far stronger than acetic acid | acetic-acid | Discovery | Chemistry | ||
distillation | 1300 CE | Liquor distillation invented | Arnau de Villanova | Spain | Much faster than waiting for natural fermentation. Villanova made Brandy | fermentation | Invention | Chemistry | ||
comet-depiction | 1304 CE | First realistic depiction of a comet | Giotto di Bondone | Italy | Seen by naked eye. Painted in "Adoration of the Magi" | Discovery | Space | |||
canary-islands | 1312 CE | Canary islands discovered by Europeans | Geona | Originally discovered in 40 BCE by King of Mauritania | ocean-navigation | Discovery | Geography | |||
anatomy | 1316 CE | Anatomy book first published | Mondino de Luzzi | Italy | After a ban, cadaver dissection became possible again | cadaver | Discovery | Biology | ||
mechanical-clock | 1335 CE | Mechanical clocks invented | Italy | Weight-powered, more accurate than water clock. Hourly chimes | water-clock | Invention | ||||
cannon | 1346 CE | Cannon invented | Edward III (funder) | England | Primitive cannons used at siege of Metz | gunpowder | Invention | War | ||
quarantine | 1403 CE | Quarantine first used | Venice | Venician policy to delay strangers from entering the city until a waiting period had passed (40 days) | medicine | Discovery | Medicine | |||
indian-ocean | 1405 CE | Indian ocean discovered | Cheng Ho (Zheng He) | China | Led expedition to Red Sea, India, Ceylon, brought back ruler of Ceylon as prisoner | ocean-navigation | Discovery | Geography | ||
madeira | 1418 CE | Madeira discovered and settled | Prince Henry the Navigator | Portugal | Kicked off the European Age of Exploration | ocean-navigation | Discovery | Geography | ||
azores | 1427 CE | Azores discovered | Diogo de Sevilha | Portugal | 1/3 of the way to America. Like Madeira, originally uninhabited, also still part of Portugal | madeira | Discovery | Geography | ||
perspective | 1436 CE | Perspective used in paintings | Leon Battista Alberti | Italy | Book published about how to draw in perspective | optics | Invention | Art | ||
artillery | 1439 CE | Artillery invented | Jean and Gaspard Bureau | England | Improved upon cannons. Artillery was good against city walls | cannon | Invention | War | ||
arquebus | 1450 CE | Arquebus invented | Spain | First gun small enough to be fired by one person | artillery | Invention | War | |||
concave-lenses | 1451 CE | Concave lenses invented | Nicholas of Cusa | Germany | Previous lenses (convex) were only for farsighted people | eyeglass | Invention | |||
movable-type | 1454 CE | Printing (Movable type) invented | Johannes Gutenberg | Germany | Proto-printing was done by Sumerians and Chinese | paper | Invention | Writing | ||
comet-tracking | 1472 CE | Comet trajectory tracking first done | Johann Muller | Germany | Comets usually viewed with terror, now understood rationally. | optics | Discovery | Space | ||
cape-good-hope | 1487 CE | Cape of Good Hope first charted | Bartholomeu Diaz | Portugal | Initially called Cape of Storms, renamed as Good Hope by John II who knew it would open trade routes with orient | ocean-navigation | Geography | |||
new-world | 1492 CE | New world discovered by modern Europeans | Christopher Columbus | Italy | Funding from Spain, first landing: Bahamas. | ocean-navigation | Discovery | Geography | ||
magnetic-declination | 1492 CE | Magnetic declination | Christopher Columbus | Italy | Saw declination of the compass compared to the starts | magnetic-pole | Discovery | Navigation | ||
syphilis | 1495 CE | Syphilis identified | Italy/France | Breakout during siege of Naples by France. Named after the protagonist of a poem that had syphilis. | quarantine | Medicine | ||||
india-water-route | 1497 CE | India water route discovered by Europeans | Vasco da Gama | Portugal | Lost 3/5 of crew to scurvy. | cape-good-hope | Geography | |||
america | 1502 CE | America discovered by modern Europeans | Amerigo Vespucci | Italy | Realized they weren't in Asia | new-world | Discovery | Geography | ||
hand-watch | 1504 CE | Spring-powered watches invented | Allowed much smaller, non-vertical clocks | mechanical-clock | Invention | |||||
pacific-ocean | 1513 CE | Pacific ocean discovered ("south sea") | Nunez de Balboa | Spain | In search of asian wealth, crossed panama to get to the Pacific | ocean-navigation | Discovery | Geography | ||
florida | 1513 CE | Florida discovered | Ponce de Leon | Spain | First portion of USA to be settled by Europeans | pacific-ocean | Discovery | Geography | ||
mexico | 1519 CE | Mexico discovered and conquered by Spain | de Cordoba/Cortez | Spain | 17: Landed on Yucatan, traces of Maya 19: landed and went to war | pacific-ocean | Discovery | Geography |
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