Technology Timeline

Newspaper

131 BCE

The first known "newspaper" was made by the Roman's, and was called the Acta Diurna, or "Daily Happenings". It detailed current events much like our own.

Calendar

45 BCE

Julius Caesar introduced the first calendar to the Romans, which was the closest means of tracking the date to our current methods of doing so. It was introduced during the reformation of Rome, and helped them a great deal in planning around the seasons.

Concrete

27 BCE

Concrete was used to build structures in ancient times, and proved to be very time consuming to use. However, the buildings were strong - and it was some of the best that was around. Now, we use concrete mostly for roads, foundation, and paths.

Seismoscope

132

Zhang Heng created the first seismoscope in China to detect the direction earthquakes were coming from. They did not understand how they worked, but this device helped them predict them by dropping a metal ball when movement was detected. We don't know exactly how it was supposed to work to this day.

Zero

350

The number zero was first used in ancient calendars in order to note increments of ten. The number existed beforehand, but around the time period listed was where its first use as in numerical format was found.

Paper Money

618

The first known use of paper money was during the Tang Dynasty's rule. Naturally, they did not handle it well and eventually produced more than they should have - making its value plummet.

Clock

723

Mechanical clocks were first invented in Europe, and were the main way of telling time until the pendulum clock was invented.

Gunpowder

904

Gunpowder was originally used for mining before any sort of weaponry, making it easier to excavate stone and valuable ores.

Fishing Reel

1195

While the first recorded use of a fishing reel would come much later, there are ancient Chinese drawings of one being used. In the old paintings, the reel was hand drawn instead of mechanical.

Glasses

1290

It's somewhat unclear as to when reading glasses were invented, but their first use was to protect from the elements - namely the sun.

Firearm

1364

The first firearm was many years ago, but very impractical. It was operated by placing gunpowder in a tray, and then lit in order to fire the projectile. The earliest known variation is called the matchlock, and was used in Colonial America.

Compass

1405

The first use of a compass as a navigational tool was when Zheng He used it during a decades long voyage. It was operated with a metal spoon, and when spun would always point South.

Printing Press

1440

Goldsmith Johannes Gutenburg created the printing press in order to print and distribute books with ease. He first tested it on the Holy Bible, and used the first print as proof that it worked quickly and efficiently.

Flush Toilet

1596

The first toilets were not made available to everyone until much later, but the first one was created by John Harington, a man who worked for Queen Elizabeth I. It required 7.5 gallons of water to flush, and was only made for the queen.

Microscope

1608

Galileo created the first working microscope with the aid of Dutch lens makers. Although primitive, they were able to swap out lenses of different sizes in order to examine smaller objects more closely.