Editing Timeline of historic inventions (section)

===Classical antiquity and medieval era===
====5th century BC====
* '''500 – 200 BC:''' [[Stirrup#Precursors|Toe stirrup]], depicted in 2nd century Buddhist art, of the Sanchi and Bhaja Caves, of the Deccan [[Satavahana dynasty|Satavahana empire]] (modern-day India)<ref>[https://archive.org/details/saddles00beat/page/28 ''Saddles'', Author Russel H. Beatie, Publisher University of Oklahoma Press, 1981], {{ISBN|080611584X}}, 9780806115849 P.28</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=xa7zPNkxswQC&pg=PA14 White, Lynn Townsend. ''Medieval Technology and Social Change'', Publisher Oxford University Press, 1964], {{ISBN|0195002660}}, 9780195002669 P.14</ref> although may have originated as early as 500 BC.<ref>Chamberlin, J. Edward (2007). ''Horse: How the Horse Has Shaped Civilizations''. [[Moscow]]: Olma Media Group. {{ISBN|1-904955-36-3}}.</ref>
* '''485 BC:''' [[Catapult]] by [[Ajatashatru]] in [[Magadha (Mahajanapada)|Magadha]], [[India]].<ref name = "Ajatashatru">Singh, Upinder (2016), ''A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century'', Pearson PLC, {{ISBN|978-81-317-1677-9}}</ref><ref name="aja_date">Jain, Kailash Chand (1991), ''Lord Mahāvīra and His Times'', Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-81-208-0805-8}}</ref>
* '''485 BC:''' Scythed chariot by [[Ajatashatru]] in [[Magadha (Mahajanapada)|Magadha]], [[India]].<ref name="Ajatashatru"/><ref name="aja_date" />
* '''5th century BC:''' [[Cast iron]] in [[History of China#Ancient China|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.<ref name="wagner 7 36 37 64 68">Wagner (2001), 7, 36–37, 64–68. 335.</ref><ref>Ebrey, Walthall, and Palais (2006), 30.</ref><ref name="pigott 1999 177">Pigott (1999), 177.</ref>
* '''480 BC:''' [[Spiral stairs]] (Temple A) in [[Selinunte]], [[Sicily]] (see also [[List of ancient spiral stairs]])<ref>Beckmann, Martin (2002): "The 'Columnae Coc(h)lides' of Trajan and Marcus Aurelius", ''[[Phoenix (classics journal)|Phoenix]]'', Vol. 56, No. 3/4, pp.&nbsp;348–357 (354)</ref><ref>Ruggeri, Stefania (2006): "Selinunt", Edizioni Affinità Elettive, Messina, {{ISBN|88-8405-079-0}}, p.&nbsp;77</ref>
* '''By 407 BC:''' Early descriptions of what may be a [[Wheelbarrow]] in Greece.<ref>M. J. T. Lewis, "The Origins of the Wheelbarrow", ''[[Technology and Culture]]'', Vol. 35, No. 3. (July 1994), pp.&nbsp;470</ref> First actual depiction of one (tomb mural) shows up in [[China]] in 118 AD.<ref>[[Joseph Needham|Needham, Joseph]] (1965). ''Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology, Part 2, Mechanical Engineering''; rpr. Taipei: Caves Books Ltd., page 265</ref>
* '''By 400 BC:''' [[Camera obscura]] described by Mo-tzu (or [[Mozi]]) in China.<ref>{{Cite web|title=What is a camera obscura?|url=https://www.camera-obscura.co.uk/article/what-is-a-camera-obscura|access-date=7 January 2022|website=Camera Obscura and World of Illusions Edinburgh|language=en-GB}}</ref>

====4th century BC====
[[Image:Musée du Louvre - Antiquités égyptiennes - Salle 06 - 02f.jpg|thumb|right|Egyptian reed pens inside ivory and wooden palettes, the Louvre<ref>{{cite web|title=Palette de scribe|url=http://www.louvre.fr/oeuvre-notices/palette-de-scribe|website=Antiquités égyptiennes du Louvre|language=fr}}</ref>]]
* '''4th century BC:''' [[Trebuchet|Traction trebuchet]] in [[History of China#Ancient China|Ancient China]].<ref name="O'Callaghan">{{cite book|author1=Joseph F. O'Callaghan|author2=Donald J. Kagay|author3=Theresa M. Vann|title=On the Social Origins of Medieval Institutions: Essays in Honor of Joseph F. O'Callaghan|year=1998|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-11096-0|pages=179|quote=Developed in China between the fifth and fourth centuries BC, it reached the Mediterranean by the sixth century AD}}</ref>
* '''4th century BC:''' [[Gear]]s in [[History of China#Ancient China|Ancient China]]
* '''4th century BC:''' [[Reed pen]]s, utilising a split nib, were used to write with ink on [[Papyrus]] in Egypt.<ref name="O'Callaghan" />
* '''4th century BC:''' Nailed [[Horseshoe]], with 4 bronze shoes found in an [[Etruscan civilization|Etruscan tomb]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Bates|first=W. N.|date=1902|title=Etruscan Horseshoes from Corneto — AJA 6:398‑403|url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Journals/AJA/6/4/Etruscan_Horseshoes*.html|access-date=7 January 2022|website=penelope.uchicago.edu}}</ref>
* '''375 BC – 350 BC:''' [[Horse mill|Animal-driven rotary mill]] in Carthage.{{sfn|Curtis|2008|p=376}}{{sfn|de Vos|2011|p=178}}
* '''By the late 4th century BC:''' [[Corporation]]s in either the [[Maurya Empire]] of India<ref>Vikramaditya S. Khanna (2005). [https://ssrn.com/abstract= ''The Economic History of the Corporate Form in Ancient India'']. [[University of Michigan]].</ref> or in Ancient Rome ([[Collegium (ancient Rome)|Collegium]]).
* '''Late 4th century BC:''' [[Cheque]] in the [[Maurya Empire]] of India.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://m.rbi.org.in/Scripts/PublicationsView.aspx?id=155 | title=Reserve Bank of India - Publications |quote = In the Mauryan period, an instrument called adesha was in use, which was an order on a banker desiring him to pay the money of the note to a third person}}</ref>
* '''Late 4th century BC:''' [[Potassium nitrate]] manufacturing and military use in the [[Seleucid Empire]].<ref>{{cite book |last = Roy |first = Kaushik |date = 2014 |title = Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400-1750 |page = 19 |isbn = 978-1-7809-3765-6 |location = London |publisher = Bloomsbury Academic |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=KyVnAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA19}}</ref>{{Verify source|date=July 2024}}
* '''Late 4th century BC:''' [[Formal system]]s by [[Pāṇini]] in India, possibly during the reign of [[Chandragupta Maurya]].<ref>Vergiani, Vincenzo (2017), "Bhartrhari on Language, Perception, and Consciousness", in Ganeri, Jonardon (ed.), ''The Oxford Handbook of Indian Philosophy'', Oxford University Press</ref>
* '''4th to 3rd century BC:''' [[Zinc mining#History|Zinc production]] in North-Western [[India]] during the [[Maurya Empire]].<ref>Craddock et al. 1983. (The earliest evidence for the production of zinc comes from India. Srinivasan, Sharda and Srinivasa Rangnathan. 2004)</ref> The earliest known zinc mines and smelting sites are from Zawar, near [[Udaipur]], in [[Rajasthan]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tf.uni-kiel.de/matwis/amat/def_en/articles/metallurg_heritage_india/metallurgical_heritage_india.html |title=Mettalurgical heritage of India|author=Srinivasan, Ranganathan|publisher=Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel |access-date=4 November 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dli.gov.in/rawdataupload/upload/insa/INSA_1/20005afd_33.pdf|title=Smelting furnaces in Ancient India|author=Rina Shrivastva|year=1999|publisher=Indian Journal of History & Science,34(1), Digital Library of India|access-date=4 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425052130/http://www.dli.gov.in/rawdataupload/upload/insa/INSA_1/20005afd_33.pdf|archive-date=25 April 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>

====3rd century BC====
[[File:Making Paper 4.PNG|thumb|140px|right|An illustration depicting the papermaking process in Han dynasty China.]]
* '''3rd century BC:''' [[Analog computer]]s in the Hellenistic world (see e.g. the [[Antikythera mechanism]]), possibly in [[Rhodes]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Harry Henderson|title=Encyclopedia of Computer Science and Technology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Tla6d153uwC&pg=PA13|access-date=28 May 2013|date=1 January 2009|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-1-4381-1003-5|page=13|quote=The earliest known analog computing device is the Antikythera mechanism.}}</ref>
* '''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]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Archimedes' Screw |url=http://physics.kenyon.edu/EarlyApparatus/Fluids/Archimedes_Screw/Archimedes_Screw.html |website=Kenyon |access-date=11 July 2018}}</ref>
* '''Early 3rd century BC:''' [[Lock (water transport)|Canal lock]] in [[Canal of the Pharaohs]] under [[Ptolemy II]] (283–246 BC) in [[Hellenistic Egypt]]<ref>Moore, Frank Gardner (1950): "Three Canal Projects, Roman and Byzantine", ''[[American Journal of Archaeology]]'', Vol. 54, No. 2, pp.&nbsp;97–111 (99–101)</ref><ref>Froriep, Siegfried (1986): "Ein Wasserweg in Bithynien. Bemühungen der Römer, Byzantiner und Osmanen", ''Antike Welt'', 2nd Special Edition, pp.&nbsp;39–50 (46)</ref><ref>Schörner, Hadwiga (2000): "Künstliche Schiffahrtskanäle in der Antike. Der sogenannte antike Suez-Kanal", ''Skyllis'', Vol. 3, No. 1, pp.&nbsp;28–43 (33–35, 39)</ref>
* '''3rd century BC:''' [[Cam (mechanism)|Cam]] during the [[Hellenistic period]], used in water-driven [[automata]].<ref>[[Andrew Wilson (classical archaeologist)|Wilson, Andrew]] (2002): "Machines, Power and the Ancient Economy", ''[[The Journal of Roman Studies]]'', Vol. 92, pp.&nbsp;1–32 (16) {{JSTOR|3184857}}</ref>
* '''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.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Selin |first1=Helaine |title=Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Westen Cultures |date=2013 |publisher=[[Springer Science & Business Media]] |isbn=9789401714167 |page=282 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GzjpCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA282}}</ref> The clearest description of the water wheel and [[Escapement#Liquid-driven escapements|Liquid-driven escapement]] is provided by [[Philo of Byzantium]] (c. 280 – 220 BC) in the Hellenistic kingdoms.<ref>[[John Peter Oleson|Oleson, John Peter]] (2000): "Water-Lifting", in: [[Örjan Wikander|Wikander, Örjan]]: "Handbook of Ancient Water Technology", Technology and Change in History, Vol. 2, Brill, Leiden, {{ISBN|90-04-11123-9}}, pp.&nbsp;217–302 (233)</ref>
* '''3rd century BC:''' [[Gimbal]] described by Philo of Byzantium<ref>{{cite book|first= Ernest Frank |last= Carter |title= Dictionary of Inventions and Discoveries |url= https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofinve00cart |url-access= registration |year= 1967 |page= [https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofinve00cart/page/74 74] | publisher= Philosophical Library}}</ref>
* '''Late 3rd century BC:''' [[Dry dock]] under [[Ptolemy IV]] (221–205 BC) in [[Hellenistic Egypt]]<ref>{{Citation | last = Oleson | first = John Peter | author-link = John Peter Oleson | title = Greek and Roman Mechanical Water-Lifting Devices: The History of a Technology | year = 1984 | publisher = University of Toronto Press | isbn = 90-277-1693-5 | page = 33}}</ref>
* '''3rd century BC – 2nd century BC:''' [[Blast furnace]] in [[History of China#Ancient China|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]].<ref name="wagner 7 36 37 64 68"/><ref>Pigott (1999), 183–184.</ref>
[[File:Museum für Antike Schiffahrt, Mainz 02. Spritsail.jpg|thumb|The earliest [[fore-and-aft rig]]s, [[spritsails]], appeared in the 2nd century BC in the [[Aegean Sea]] on small Greek craft.<ref name="Casson 1995, 243–245">[[Lionel Casson|Casson, Lionel]] (1995): "Ships and Seamanship in the Ancient World", Johns Hopkins University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-8018-5130-8}}, pp.&nbsp;243–245</ref> Here a spritsail used on a [[Roman Empire|Roman]] merchant ship (3rd century AD).]]

====2nd century BC====
{{main list|2nd century BC#Inventions, discoveries, introductions}}
* '''2nd century BC:''' [[Paper]] in [[Han dynasty]] [[China]]{{efn|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 [[History of cartography#China|being a map]] from [[Fangmatan]], [[Gansu]].<ref>Buisseret (1998), 12.</ref>}}
*'''206 BC:''' [[Compass]] in [[Han dynasty]] [[China]]<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Guarnieri |first1=M |title=Once Upon a Time, the Compass |journal=IEEE Industrial Electronics Magazine |date=2014|doi=10.1109/MIE.2014.2316044 |s2cid=11949042 }}</ref>
* '''Early 2nd century BC:''' [[Astrolabe]] invented by [[Apollonius of Perga]].

====1st century BC====
* '''1st century BC:''' Segmental [[arch bridge]] (e.g. [[Pont-Saint-Martin (bridge)|Pont-Saint-Martin]] or [[Ponte San Lorenzo]]) in [[Italy]], [[Roman Republic]]<ref>O'Connor, Colin: ''Roman Bridges'', Cambridge University Press, 1993, {{ISBN|0-521-39326-4}}, p.&nbsp;171</ref><ref>Galliazzo, Vittorio (1995): "I ponti romani", Vol. 1, Edizioni Canova, Treviso, {{ISBN|88-85066-66-6}}, pp.&nbsp;429–437</ref>
* '''1st century BC:''' News bulletin during the reign of Julius Caesar.<ref name="Chisholm 1911, p. 159">{{EB1911|inline=1 |wstitle=Acta Diurna |volume=1 |page=159}}</ref> A paper form, i.e. the earliest [[newspaper]], later appeared during the late Han dynasty in the form of the [[Dibao]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761564853_4/newspaper.html |title=Newspaper - MSN Encarta |access-date=17 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206041632/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761564853_4/Newspaper.html |archive-date=6 December 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=if30>Irving Fang, ''A History of Mass Communication: Six Information Revolutions'', Focal Press, 1997, p. 30</ref><ref>Lamont, Ian, [https://www.scribd.com/doc/5021205/The-Rise-of-the-Press-in-Late-Imperial-China "The Rise of the Press in Late Imperial China"], 27 November 2007</ref>
* '''1st century BC:''' [[Arch dam]] ([[Glanum Dam]]) in [[Gallia Narbonensis]], [[Roman Republic]] (see also [[List of Roman dams]])<ref>Smith, Norman (1971): "A History of Dams", Peter Davies, London, {{ISBN|978-0-432-15090-0}}, pp.&nbsp;25–49 (33–35)</ref><ref>Schnitter, Niklaus (1978): "Römische Talsperren", ''Antike Welt'', Vol. 8, No. 2, pp.&nbsp;25–32 (31f.)</ref><ref>Schnitter, Niklaus (1987): "Verzeichnis geschichtlicher Talsperren bis Ende des 17. Jahrhunderts", in: Garbrecht, Günther (ed.): ''Historische Talsperren'', Verlag Konrad Wittwer, Stuttgart, Vol. 1, {{ISBN|3-87919-145-X}}, pp.&nbsp;9–20 (12)</ref><ref>Schnitter, Niklaus (1987): "Die Entwicklungsgeschichte der Bogenstaumauer", Garbrecht, Günther (ed.): ''Historische Talsperren'', Vol. 1, Verlag Konrad Wittwer, Stuttgart, {{ISBN|3-87919-145-X}}, pp.&nbsp;75–96 (80)</ref><ref>Hodge, A. Trevor (2000): "Reservoirs and Dams", in: [[Örjan Wikander|Wikander, Örjan]]: ''Handbook of Ancient Water Technology'', Technology and Change in History, Vol. 2, Brill, Leiden, {{ISBN|90-04-11123-9}}, pp.&nbsp;331–339 (332, fn. 2)</ref>
* '''Before 40 BC:''' [[Trip hammer]] in [[China]]<ref name="needham volume 4 part 2 184" >Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 184.</ref>
* '''38 BC:''' An empty shell Glyph for [[0#Pre-Columbian Americas|zero]], is found on a [[Maya numerals]] Stela, from Chiapa de Corzo, [[Chiapas]]. Independently invented by [[Ptolemy|Claudius Ptolemy]], in the second century CE Egypt, and appearing in the calculations of the [[Almagest]].
* '''37 BC – 14 BC:''' [[Glass blowing]] developed in Jerusalem.<ref name="Avigad">Avigad, N (1983). ''Discovering Jerusalem''. Nashville. {{ISBN|0-8407-5299-7}}</ref><ref name="Tattona">Tatton-Brown, V. (1991). "The Roman Empire". In H. Tait (ed.) ''Five Thousand Years of Glass''. pp. 62–97. British Museum Press: London {{ISBN|0-8122-1888-4}}</ref><ref name="Stern">{{cite book|author1=Birgit Schlick-Nolte|author2=E. Marianne|title=Early glass of the ancient world: 1600 B.C.-A.D. 50 : Ernesto Wolf collection|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dJUsAQAAIAAJ&q=clay+blowpipe|year=1994|publisher=[[Gerd Hatje|Verlag Gerd Hatje]]|isbn=978-3-7757-0502-8|pages=81–83}}</ref>
* '''Before 25 BC:''' [[Reverse overshot water wheel]] by [[Roman engineering|Roman engineers]] in [[Rio Tinto (river)|Rio Tinto]], Spain<ref>Davies, Oliver: ''Roman Mines in Europe'', Oxford (1935)</ref>
* '''25 BC:''' [[Noodle]] in [[Lajia]] in [[China]]<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lu |first1=Houyuan |last2=Yang |first2=Xiaoyan |last3=Ye |first3=Maolin |title=Culinary archaeology: Millet noodles in Late Neolithic China |journal=Nature |date=13 October 2005 |volume=437 |issue=7061 |pages=967–968 |doi=10.1038/437967a |pmid=16222289|bibcode=2005Natur.437..967L |s2cid=4385122 }}</ref>

====1st century AD====
* '''1st century AD:''' The [[aeolipile]], a simple [[steam turbine]] is recorded by Hero of Alexandria.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-45691|title=turbine |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |date=2007 |access-date=18 July 2007}}</ref>
* '''1st century AD:''' The first use of [[respiratory protective equipment]] is documented by [[Pliny the Elder]] ({{circa|23 AD}}–79) using animal bladder skins to protect workers in Roman mines from red lead oxide dust.<ref>{{cite wikisource | title=Naturalis_Historia/Liber_XXXIII#XL|wslanguage=la}}</ref>
* '''1st century AD:''' Oldest surviving [[wine]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Cosano |first1=Daniel |last2=Manuel Román |first2=Juan |last3=Esquivel |first3=Dolores |last4=Lafont |first4=Fernando |last5=Ruiz Arrebola |first5=José Rafael |date=2024-09-01 |title=New archaeochemical insights into Roman wine from Baetica |journal=Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports |volume=57 |pages=104636 |doi=10.1016/j.jasrep.2024.104636 |bibcode=2024JArSR..57j4636C |issn=2352-409X|doi-access=free }}</ref>
* '''1st century AD:''' [[Vending machine]]s invented by [[Hero of Alexandria]].
* '''By the 1st century AD:''' The [[double-entry bookkeeping|double-entry bookkeeping system]] in the Roman Empire.<ref>{{cite book|author=J. R. Edwards|title=A History of Financial Accounting (RLE Accounting)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pd1JAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA46|date=4 December 2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-67881-5|page=46}}</ref>

====2nd century====
{{See also|2nd century#Inventions, discoveries, introductions}}
* '''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 [[earthquake]]s, to dislodge a metal ball by a lever trip device.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Sleeswyk AW, Sivin N | title=Dragons and toads: the Chinese seismoscope of BC. 132 | year=1983 | journal=[[Chinese Science]] | volume=6 | pages=1–19}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Needham | first = Joseph | title = Science and Civilization in China, Volume 3: Mathematics and the Sciences of the Heavens and the Earth | place = Cambridge | publisher = Cambridge University Press | year = 1959 | pages = 626–635| bibcode = 1959scc3.book.....N}}</ref>
* '''2nd century:''' [[Carding]] in India.<ref name=Baber1>Baber (1996), page 57</ref>

====3rd century====
[[File:Römische Sägemühle.svg|thumb|Schematic of the Roman [[Hierapolis sawmill]]. Dated to the 3rd&nbsp;century&nbsp;AD, it is the earliest known machine to incorporate a [[Crank (mechanism)|crank]] and [[connecting rod]] mechanism.<ref name="Ritti, Grewe, Kessener 2007, 140, 161">Ritti, Tullia; Grewe, Klaus; Kessener, Paul (2007): "A Relief of a Water-powered Stone Saw Mill on a Sarcophagus at Hierapolis and its Implications", ''[[Journal of Roman Archaeology]]'', Vol. 20, pp.&nbsp;138–163 (140, 161)</ref><ref name="Grewe 2009, 429">Grewe, Klaus (2009): [http://www.freundeskreis-roemerkanal.de/Text/BAUTECHNIK%20IM%20ANTIKEN%20UND.pdf "Die Reliefdarstellung einer antiken Steinsägemaschine aus Hierapolis in Phrygien und ihre Bedeutung für die Technikgeschichte. Internationale Konferenz 13.−16. Juni 2007 in Istanbul"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511200049/http://www.freundeskreis-roemerkanal.de/Text/BAUTECHNIK%20IM%20ANTIKEN%20UND.pdf |date=11 May 2011}}, in: Bachmann, Martin (ed.): ''Bautechnik im antiken und vorantiken Kleinasien'', Byzas, Vol. 9, Ege Yayınları/Zero Prod. Ltd., Istanbul, {{ISBN|978-975-8072-23-1}}, pp.&nbsp;429–454 (429)</ref><ref name="Grewe 2010">Grewe, Klaus (2010): [http://www.traianvs.net/pdfs/2010_15_grewe.pdf "La máquina romana de serrar piedras. La representación en bajorrelieve de una sierra de piedras de la antigüedad, en Hierápolis de Frigia y su relevancia para la historia técnica (translation by Miguel Ordóñez)"], in: ''Las técnicas y las construcciones de la Ingeniería Romana'', V Congreso de las Obras Públicas Romanas, pp.&nbsp;381–401</ref>]]
* '''By at least the 3rd century:''' Crystallized sugar in India.<ref>Shaffer, Lynda N., "Southernization", ''Agricultural and Pastoral Societies in Ancient and Classical History'' edited by Michael Adas, pp.&nbsp;311, Temple University Press, {{ISBN|1-56639-832-0}}.</ref>
* '''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]].<ref>{{cite book |title=The Rise of Modern China |last=Hsü |first=Immanuel C. Y. |year= 1970 |publisher= Oxford University Press |location=New York |isbn=0-19-501240-2 |page= 830}}</ref>
* '''Late 3rd century – Early 4th century:''' [[Water turbine]] in the [[Roman Empire]] in modern-day [[Tunisia]].<ref>[[Andrew Wilson (classical archaeologist)|Wilson, Andrew]] (1995): "Water-Power in North Africa and the Development of the Horizontal Water-Wheel", ''Journal of Roman Archaeology'', Vol. 8, pp.&nbsp;499–510 (507f.)</ref><ref>[[Örjan Wikander|Wikander, Örjan]] (2000): "The Water-Mill" in: Wikander, Örjan (ed.): ''Handbook of Ancient Water Technology'', Technology and Change in History, Vol. 2, Brill, Leiden, {{ISBN|90-04-11123-9}}, pp.&nbsp;371–400 (377)</ref><ref>Donners, K.; Waelkens, M.; Deckers, J. (2002): "Water Mills in the Area of Sagalassos: A Disappearing Ancient Technology", ''Anatolian Studies'', Vol. 52, pp.&nbsp;1–17 (13)</ref>

====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>

====5th century====
{{see also|5th century#Inventions, discoveries, introductions}}
* '''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,<ref>[http://home.iitk.ac.in/%7Ebala/journalpaper/journal/journalpaper_17.pdf ''On the Corrosion Resistance of the Delhi Iron Pillar''], R. Balasubramaniam, ''Corrosion Science'', Volume 42 (2000) pp. 2103–2129. ''Corrosion Science'' is a publication specialized in corrosion science and engineering.</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Yoshio Waseda |author2=Shigeru Suzuki | title = Characterization of corrosion products on steel surfaces |page=vii
|publisher=Springer | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=E_clmVK12YsC&q=iron+pillar+not+corrosive&pg=PR7 |isbn = 978-3-540-35177-1 |year = 2006}}</ref> although original texts do not survive to detail the specific processes invented in this period.
* '''5th century:''' The [[horse collar]] as a fully developed collar harness is developed in [[Northern and Southern dynasties]] [[China]] during the 5th century AD.<ref name="needham volume 4 part 2 28">Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 28.</ref> The earliest depiction of it is a [[Dunhuang]] cave [[mural]] from the Chinese [[Northern Wei]] dynasty, the [[painting]] dated to 477–499.<ref name="needham volume 4 part 2 322">Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 322.</ref>
* '''5th century – 6th century:''' [[Pointed arch bridge]] ([[Karamagara Bridge]]) in [[Cappadocia]], [[Eastern Roman Empire]]<ref>Galliazzo, Vittorio (1995): "I ponti romani", Vol. 1, Edizioni Canova, Treviso, {{ISBN|88-85066-66-6}}, p.&nbsp;92</ref><ref>Warren, John (1991): "Creswell's Use of the Theory of Dating by the Acuteness of the Pointed Arches in Early Muslim Architecture", ''[[Muqarnas (journal)|Muqarnas]]'', Vol. 8, pp.&nbsp;59–65 (61–63)</ref>
[[File:Nepali charka in action.jpg|thumb|A [[w:Demographics of Nepal|Nepali]] [[w:Spinning wheel|Charkha]] in action]]

====6th century====
* '''By the 6th century:''' [[Incense clock]] in China.<ref name=Schafer161>Schafer (1963), pages 160-161</ref><ref name=Bedini69>Bedini (1994), pages 69-80</ref>
* '''After 500:''' [[Charkha (spinning wheel)|Charkha]] (spinning wheel/cotton gin) invented in India (probably during the [[Vakataka dynasty]] of [[Maharashtra, India]]), between 500 and 1000 A.D.<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Smith | first1 = C. Wayne | last2 = Cothren | first2 = J. Tom | title = Cotton: Origin, History, Technology, and Production | publisher = John Wiley & Sons | volume = 4 | date = 1999 | pages = viii | url = http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0471180459.html | isbn = 978-0471180456
 | quote = The first improvement in spinning technology was the spinning wheel, which was invented in India between 500 and 1000 A.D.}}</ref>
* '''563:''' [[Pendentive]] [[dome]] ([[Hagia Sophia]]) in [[Constantinople]], [[Eastern Roman Empire]]<ref>Heinle, Erwin; Schlaich, Jörg (1996): "Kuppeln aller Zeiten, aller Kulturen", Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart, {{ISBN|3-421-03062-6}}, pp.&nbsp;30–32</ref>
* '''577:''' [[Match#Early matches|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.<ref name="needham volume 5 part 1 123">Needham, Volume 5, Part 1, 123.</ref><ref>Hunter (1978), 207.</ref>

====7th century====
{{see also|7th century#Inventions, discoveries, introductions}}
* '''619:''' [[Toothbrush]] in [[China]] during the [[Tang dynasty]]<ref name=kumar-412413>{{cite book |last=Kumar |first=Jayanth V. |title=Textbook of preventive and community dentistry |year=2011 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-81-312-2530-1 |pages=412–413 |edition=2nd |chapter=Oral hygiene aids}}</ref>
* '''672:''' [[Greek fire]] in [[Constantinople]], [[Byzantine Empire]]: Greek fire, an [[incendiary device|incendiary weapon]] likely based on [[petroleum]] or [[naphtha]], is invented by Kallinikos, a Lebanese Greek refugee from [[Baalbek]], as described by [[Theophanes the Confessor|Theophanes]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Pryor|Jeffreys|2006|pp=607–609}}</ref> However, the historicity and exact chronology of this account is dubious,<ref>{{Harvnb|Theophanes|Turtledove|1982|p=52}}</ref> and it could be that Kallinikos merely introduced an improved version of an established weapon.<ref>{{Harvnb|Roland|1992|p=657}}; {{Harvnb|Pryor|Jeffreys|2006|p=608}}</ref>
* '''7th century:''' [[Banknote]] in [[Tang dynasty]] [[China]]: The banknote is [[Economy of the Song dynasty#The world's first paper money|first developed in China]] during the [[Tang dynasty|Tang]] and [[Song dynasty|Song]] dynasties, starting in the 7th century. Its roots are in merchant [[receipt]]s of deposit during the Tang dynasty (618–907), as [[Four occupations#The shang (商)|merchants]] and [[wholesaler]]s desire to avoid the heavy bulk of [[Ancient Chinese coinage|copper coinage]] in large commercial transactions.<ref name="Ebrey, Walthall, and Palais">Ebrey, Walthall, and Palais (2006), 156.</ref><ref name="Bowman">Bowman (2000), 105.</ref><ref name="gernet 1962 80">Gernet (1962), 80.</ref>
* '''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.<ref>Wood (1999), 49.</ref>

====8th century====
{{see also|8th century#Inventions, discoveries, introductions}}

====9th century====
{{see also|9th century#Inventions, discoveries, introductions}}
[[File:Mōko Shūrai Ekotoba.jpg|thumb|A Mongol bomb thrown against a charging [[Japan]]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 alchemy|Chinese alchemists]] searching for an [[elixir of life|elixir of immortality]].<ref name="Jack Kelly 2005">Jack Kelly ''Gunpowder: Alchemy, Bombards, and Pyrotechnics: The History of the Explosive that Changed the World'', Perseus Books Group: 2005, {{ISBN|0465037224}}, 9780465037223: pp. 2-5</ref> Evidence of gunpowder's first use in China comes from the [[Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period]] (618–907).<ref>Needham, Volume 5, Part 7, 8–9, 80–82.</ref> 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).<ref>Needham (1987), Volume 5, Part 7, 70–73, 120–124.</ref><ref name="gernet 1996 311">Gernet (1996), 311.</ref><ref>Day & McNeil (1996), 785.</ref>
* '''9th century:''' [[Playing card]] in [[Tang dynasty]] [[China]]<ref>{{Harvnb|Needham|1954|pp=[https://archive.org/stream/ScienceAndCivilisationInChina/Science_and_Civilisation_in_China_Vol_1_Introductory_Orientations#page/n177/mode/2up 131–132]}}.</ref><ref name="wilkinson">{{cite journal|last=Wilkinson | first=W.H. | title=Chinese Origin of Playing Cards | journal=[[American Anthropologist]] | volume=VIII | issue=1 | year=1895 | pages=61–78 | doi=10.1525/aa.1895.8.1.02a00070 | url=https://zenodo.org/record/1448960 | doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="lo 2000 390">{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1017/S0041977X00008466| title = The game of leaves: An inquiry into the origin of Chinese playing cards| journal = Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies| volume = 63| issue = 3| pages = 389–406| year = 2009| last1 = Lo | first1 = A. | s2cid = 159872810}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Needham|2004|p=[https://archive.org/stream/ScienceAndCivilisationInChina/Science_and_Civilisation_in_China_Vol_4-1_Physics_and_Physical_Technology_Physics#page/n379/mode/2up/search/dominoes 328]}} "it is also now rather well-established that dominoes and playing-cards were originally Chinese developments from dice."</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Needham|2004|p=[https://archive.org/stream/ScienceAndCivilisationInChina/Science_and_Civilisation_in_China_Vol_4-1_Physics_and_Physical_Technology_Physics#page/n383/mode/2up 332]}} "Numbered dice, anciently widespread, were on a related line of development which gave rise to dominoes and playing-cards (+9th-century China)."</ref>

====10th century====
{{see also|10th century#Inventions, discoveries, introductions}}
* '''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]].<ref>Needham (1986), Volume 5, Part 7, 224–225, 232–233, 241–244.</ref> Fire lance is the earliest [[firearm]] in the world and one of the earliest gunpowder weapons.<ref name=Helaine>{{cite book|author=Helaine Selin|title=Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=raKRY3KQspsC&pg=PA389|access-date=30 July 2013|date=1 January 1997|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-0-7923-4066-9|page=389}}</ref><ref>{{Citation | last = Crosby | first = Alfred W. | title = Throwing Fire: Projectile Technology Through History | year = 2002 | publisher = Cambridge University Press | isbn =0-521-79158-8}}</ref>
* '''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.<ref>Gernet (1962), 186.</ref>
* '''974:''' [[Fountain pen]]: invented at the request of [[al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah]] in [[Egypt in the Middle Ages|Arab Egypt]].<ref>{{Cite journal|journal=[[Journal of Semitic Studies]]|volume=26|issue=1|year=1981|pages=229–234|title=A Mediaeval Islamic Prototype of the Fountain Pen?|first=C. E.|last=Bosworth|quote= ...not more than a few days passed before the craftsman, to whom the construction of this contrivance had been described, brought in the pen, fashioned from gold. He then filled it with ink and wrote with it, and it really did write. The pen released a little more ink than was necessary. Hence al-Mu'izz ordered that it should be adjusted slightly, and he did this. He brought forward the pen and behold, it turned out to be a pen which can be turned upside down in the hand and tipped from side to side, and no trace of ink appears from it. When a secretary takes up the pen and writes with it, he is able to write in the most elegant script that could possibly be desired; then, when he lifts the pen off the sheet of writing material, it holds in the ink. I observed that it was a wonderful piece of work, the like of which I had never imagined I would ever see.|doi=10.1093/jss/26.2.229}}</ref>

====11th century====
{{main list|11th century#Inventions, discoveries, introductions}}
* '''11th century:''' Early versions of the [[Bessemer process]] are developed in China.
* '''11th century:''' [[Su Song#The endless chain drive|Endless power-transmitting chain drive]] by [[Su Song]] for the development an astronomical clock (the [[Su Song#Horology and mechanical engineering|Cosmic Engine]])<ref name="needham volume 4 111">Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 111.</ref>
* '''11th century:''' [[Calico]] was developed in [[Kozhikode|Calicut]], India.<ref name="eb-calico2">''Encyclopædia Britannica'' (2008). [https://www.britannica.com/topic/calico-textile "calico"].</ref>
* '''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]].<ref>Needham, Volume 5, Part 1, 201–202.</ref><ref name="gernet 1996 335">Gernet (1996), 335.</ref><ref name="bowman 2000 599">Bowman (2000), 599.</ref><ref name="day mcneil 70">Day & McNeil (1996), 70.</ref>

====12th century====

====13th century====
{{see also|13th century#Inventions, discoveries, introductions}}
* '''13th century:''' [[Rocket]] for military and recreational uses date back to at least 13th-century China.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.solarviews.com/eng/rocket.htm|title=A Brief History of Rocketry |publisher=Solarviews.com |access-date=14 June 2012}}</ref>
* '''13th century:''' The earliest form of [[mechanical escapement]], the [[verge escapement]] in [[Europe]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/timeinhistoryevo00whit|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/timeinhistoryevo00whit/page/104 104]|title=Time in History: Views of Time from Prehistory to the Present Day|first=G. J.|last=Whitrow|date=26 March 1989|publisher=Oxford University Press|access-date=26 March 2018|via=Internet Archive|isbn=9780192852113}}</ref>
* '''13th century:''' [[Button]]s (combined with buttonholes) as a functional fastening for closing clothes appear first in [[Germany]].<ref>Lynn White: "The Act of Invention: Causes, Contexts, Continuities and Consequences", ''Technology and Culture'', Vol. 3, No. 4 (Autumn, 1962), pp. 486–500 (497f. & 500)</ref>
* '''13th century:''' [[Bomb|Explosive bomb]] in [[Jin dynasty (1115–1234)|Jin dynasty]] Manchuria: Explosive bombs are used in 1221 by the [[Jin dynasty (1115–1234)|Jin dynasty]] against a [[Song dynasty]] city.<ref name="Connolly">{{cite book |author=Peter Connolly |url=https://archive.org/details/hutchinsondictio0000benn/page/356 |title=The Hutchinson Dictionary of Ancient and Medieval Warfare |date=1 November 1998 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-57958-116-9 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/hutchinsondictio0000benn/page/356 356]}}</ref> 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",<ref>Needham (1986), Volume 5, Part 7, 170–174.</ref> coined during a [[Jin dynasty (1115–1234)|Jin dynasty]] naval battle in 1231.<ref name="needham volume 5 part 7 171">Needham (1986), Volume 5, Part 7, 171.</ref>
* '''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 [[Jurchens|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.<ref>Needham (1986), Volume 5, Part 7, 293–294.</ref>
* '''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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://collections.civilisations.ca/public/pages/cmccpublic/alt-emupublic/Display.php?irn=855927|title=Prehistoric Inuit Snow-Goggles, circa 1200|access-date=2009-01-25|publisher=[[Canadian Museum of Civilization]] | date=1997-10-03|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706173656/http://collections.civilisations.ca/public/pages/cmccpublic/alt-emupublic/Display.php?irn=855927|archive-date=2011-07-06}}<br />{{cite book|title=Origin of Everyday Things|last1=Acton|first1=Johnny|last2=Adams|first2=Tania|last3=Packer|first3=Matt|editor-first=Jo|editor-last=Swinnerton|year=2006|publisher=[[Sterling Publishing Company, Inc.]]|isbn=1-4027-4302-5|page=[https://archive.org/details/originofeveryday0000acto/page/254 254]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/originofeveryday0000acto/page/254}}</ref><ref>Inuit hero Nanook from the silent documentary film ''[[Nanook of the North]]'' (1922) wearing whale bone [https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/51/b0/57/51b057742fc5e30e5695bc9fe3a2afe3.jpg snow-goggles] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304083959/https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/51/b0/57/51b057742fc5e30e5695bc9fe3a2afe3.jpg |date=March 4, 2016 }} Retrieved December 5, 2014</ref> In China, the first sunglasses consisting of flat panes of [[smoky quartz]] are documented.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/sunglasses.htm|title=Sunglasses History – The Invention of Sunglasses|access-date=2007-06-28|last=Ament|first=Phil|date=2006-12-04|work=The Great Idea Finder|publisher=Vaunt Design Group|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070703224202/http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/sunglasses.htm|archive-date=2007-07-03}}</ref><ref name="Vision">{{cite web | last=Vision | first=Website | title=Torquay Museum | website=Torquay Museum | url=http://www.torquaymuseum.org/explore/collections-spotlight/explorers/chinese-sunglasses | access-date=2021-08-07}}</ref>
* '''13th century - 14th century:''' [[Cotton gin|Worm gear cotton gin]] in India.<ref>{{cite book |last=Habib |first=Irfan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K8kO4J3mXUAC&pg=PA54 |title=Economic History of Medieval India, 1200-1500 |publisher=[[Pearson Education]] |year=2011 |isbn=978-81-317-2791-1 |page=54 |author-link=Irfan Habib}}</ref>
* '''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 [[History of the Song dynasty#Yuan invasion and end of the Song dynasty|Mongol soldiers]] invading [[Guangxi]] in 1277.<ref>Needham (1986), Volume 5, Part 7, 175–176, 192.</ref>
* '''1286:''' [[Eyeglasses]] in [[Italy]]<ref>Vincent Ilardi, ''Renaissance Vision from Spectacles to Telescopes'' (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: American Philosophical Society, 2007), [https://books.google.com/books?id=peIL7hVQUmwC&pg=PA5 page 5].</ref>

====14th century====
* '''Early 14th century – Mid 14th century:''' [[Multistage rocket]] in [[Ming dynasty]] [[China]] described in ''[[Huolongjing]]'' by [[Jiao Yu]].
* '''By at least 1326:''' [[Cannon]] in [[Ming dynasty]] [[China]]<ref>{{cite journal|first=Lu|last=Gwei-Djen|author2=Joseph Needham |author3=Phan Chi-Hsing |date=July 1988|journal=Technology and Culture|volume=29|issue=3|pages=594–605|publisher=[[Johns Hopkins University Press]]|title=The Oldest Representation of a Bombard|doi=10.2307/3105275|jstor=3105275|s2cid=112733319 }}</ref>
* '''14th century:''' Painting [[Canvas]] was first used in [[Italy]].<ref>Gordon, xiii</ref>
* '''14th century:''' [[Jacob's staff]] described by [[Levi ben Gerson]]
* '''14th century:''' [[Naval mine]] in [[Ming dynasty]] [[China]]: 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.<ref>Needham (1986), Volume 5, Part 7, 203–205.</ref>
* '''14th century:''' [[Bidriware]] in the [[Bahmani Sultanate]] in [[India]].<ref name="TOI">{{cite news |date=2 January 2012 |title=Proving their mettle in metal craft |work=The Times of India |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Proving-their-mettle-in-metal-craft/articleshow/11332582.cms |url-status=live |access-date=2 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130508043800/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-01-02/hyderabad/30580986_1_bidriware-hyderabad-bidar |archive-date=8 May 2013}}</ref>
[[File:Handtiegelpresse von 1811.jpg|thumb|upright|The 15th-century invention of the [[printing press]] with [[movable type]] by the German [[Johannes Gutenberg]].<ref>See [http://rhsweb.org/library/1000PeopleMillennium.htm People of the Millennium] for an overview of the wide acclaim. In 1999, the [[A&E Network]] ranked [http://www.wmich.edu/mus-gened/mus170/biography100 Gutenberg no. 1 on their "People of the Millennium" countdown]. In 1997, [[Time–Life]] magazine picked [http://www.mainz.de/gutenberg/g2000.htm Gutenberg's invention as the most important of the second millennium] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100310192514/http://www.mainz.de/gutenberg/g2000.htm |date=10 March 2010}}; the same did four prominent US journalists in their 1998 resume [http://rhsweb.org/library/1000PeopleMillennium.htm 1,000 Years, 1,000 People: Ranking The Men and Women Who Shaped The Millennium]. The [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07090a.htm Johann Gutenberg] entry of the [[Catholic Encyclopedia]] describes his invention as having made a practically unparalleled cultural impact in the [[Christian era]].</ref> ]]

====15th century====
{{see also|15th century#Inventions, discoveries, introductions}}
* '''Early 15th century:''' [[Coil spring]] in [[Europe]]<ref name="White1966" >{{Cite book
| last=White
| first=Lynn Jr.
| title=Medieval Technology and Social Change
| publisher=Oxford Univ. Press
| year=1966
| location=New York
| isbn=0-19-500266-0
| url=https://archive.org/details/medievaltechnolo00whit
}}, p.126-127</ref>
* '''15th century:''' [[Mainspring]] in Europe<ref name="White1966"/>
* '''15th century:''' [[Rifle]] in Europe
* '''1420s:''' [[Brace (tool)|Brace]] in [[County of Flanders|Flanders]], [[Holy Roman Empire]]<ref name="White 1968, 462f.">[[Lynn Townsend White, Jr.|White, Lynn]] (1962): "Medieval Technology and Social Change", At the Clarendon Press, Oxford, p.&nbsp;112</ref>
* '''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 press]]es. The first confirmed record of a press appeared in a 1439 [[lawsuit]] against Gutenberg.<ref name="meggs58-69">Meggs, Philip B. A History of Graphic Design. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1998. (pp 58–69) {{ISBN|0-471-29198-6}}</ref>
* '''Mid 15th century:''' The [[Arquebus]] (also spelled Harquebus) is invented, possibly in Spain.<ref>{{cite book|title=Penny Cyclopaedia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sttPAAAAMAAJ&pg=373|access-date=5 January 2016|volume=1|year=1833|publisher=C. Knight|pages=373–374}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.britannica.com/technology/harquebus |title=harquebus weapon |website=Britannica.com |access-date=5 January 2016}}</ref>
* '''1480s:''' [[Mariner's astrolabe]] in [[Portuguese discoveries|Portuguese circumnavigation of Africa]]<ref>Stimson, Alan (1985): "The Mariner's Astrolabe. A Survey of 48 Surviving Examples", UC Biblioteca Geral, Coimbra, p.&nbsp;576</ref>