Editing Timeline of historic inventions (section)

====4th century====
{{see also|4th century#Inventions, discoveries, introductions}}
* '''280 – 550:''' [[Chaturanga]], a precursor of [[Chess]] was invented in India during the [[Gupta Empire]].<ref>{{cite book | author=Leibs, Andrew | year=2004 | title=Sports and Games of the Renaissance | publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group | isbn=978-0-313-32772-8 | location=Westport, CT}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Estes, Rebecca |author2=Robinson, Dindy |year=1996 |title=World Cultures Through Art Activities |publisher=Teachers Ideas Press |location=Englewood, CO |isbn=978-1-56308-271-9}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=5 March 2014 |title=Hindi and the origins of chess |url=http://en.chessbase.com/post/hindi-and-the-origins-of-chess |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140308000809/http://en.chessbase.com/post/hindi-and-the-origins-of-chess |archive-date=8 March 2014 |work=chessbase.com}}</ref>
* '''4th century:''' Roman [[Dichroic glass]], which displays one of two different colors depending on lighting conditions.
* '''4th century:''' [[Simple suspension bridge#History|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.<ref name="needham 1986 volume 4 part 3 187−189">Needham, Joseph. (1986d). Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology, Part 3, Civil Engineering and Nautics. Taipei: Caves Books Ltd. {{ISBN|0-521-07060-0}}, 187–189.</ref> Later bridges constructed utilizing cables of iron chains appeared in Tibet.<ref name="Peters">{{cite book
|author=Peters, Tom F.
|title=Transitions in Engineering: Guillaume Henri Dufour and the Early 19th Century Cable Suspension Bridges
|publisher=Birkhauser
|year=1987
|isbn=3-7643-1929-1
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=73JPiTuDYscC
}}</ref><ref>"suspension bridge" in Encyclopædia Britannica (2008). 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.</ref>
* '''4th century:''' [[Fishing reel]] in [[History of China#Ancient China|Ancient China]]: In literary records, the earliest evidence of the fishing reel comes from a 4th-century AD<ref>Hucker (1975), 206.</ref> work entitled ''Lives of Famous Immortals''.<ref>Ronan (1994), 41.</ref>
* '''347:''' [[Oil Well]]s and [[Borehole]] drilling in [[China]]. Such wells could reach depths of up to 240&nbsp;m (790&nbsp;ft).<ref name=ASTM>{{cite web|url=http://www.astm.org/COMMIT/D02/to1899_index.html|title=ASTM International – Standards Worldwide|website=www.astm.org|access-date=26 March 2018|archive-date=6 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170706232229/https://www.astm.org/COMMIT/D02/to1899_index.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* 4th century – 5th century: [[Paddle wheel boat]] (in ''[[De rebus bellicis]]'') in [[Roman Empire]]<ref>De Rebus Bellicis (anon.), chapter XVII, text edited by Robert Ireland, in: BAR International Series 63, part 2, p. 34</ref>