Western Civ Final: Ideas and Inventions

By burbridges
  • 3000 BCE

    Writing

    Writing
    The first system of writing was invented in 3000 BCE by the Mesopotamians. It was called cuneiform and was initially invented as a way of keeping track of tex records
  • Period: 3000 BCE to 1550

    Western Civ Final: Ideas and Inventions

  • 880 BCE

    Assyrian Messenger System

    Assyrian Messenger System
    In 880 BCE the Assyrian king began a series of wars to conquer Mesopotamia and Canaan. The Assyrians invented a messenger service with carriers on horseback that maintained lines of communication and had rest stops along the way to replace tired horses.
  • 450 BCE

    Greek Tragedy and Comedy

    Greek Tragedy and Comedy
    Sometime shortly after 450 BCE tragedy was invented and it was a powerful way of depicting the frailty of humanity. Shortly after that, comedy was invented as the opposite of tragedy and was meant to inspire mockery and gleeful contempt instead of sympathy.
  • 360 BCE

    Geometry

    Geometry
    Around 360 BCE Euclid invented the mathematical discipline of geometry. He was the first to use obvious starting points called axioms, one example is that he pointed out that two parallel lines would never cross paths. He is one of the few ancient thinkers who never had any of his major points proved inaccurate.
  • 1300

    The Term Middle Ages

    The Term Middle Ages
    Thinkers during the Renaissance came up with the term “Middle Ages” as a way of separating themselves from the ignorance and darkness of the time before. Another common term invented was the “dark ages.”
  • 1440

    The Printing Press

    The Printing Press
    The printing press was invented in the 1440s by a German goldsmith named Johannes Gutenberg. The printing press works by coating a three-dimensional impression of an image or text with ink, then pressing that ink onto paper. The printing press would grow to become widely famous around the world for sharing all kinds of information.
  • 1450

    Gunpowder Weapons

    Gunpowder Weapons
    Gunpowder was invented in China in the fourteenth century and changed military technology forever. These weapons were highly dangerous to not just the target but the user as well, but eventually they would grow to be very useful and successful.
  • 1500

    Humanistic Education

    Humanistic Education
    By the 16th century, humanistic education had spread and became known as the greatest achievement of the Italian Renaissance. Humanistic education put a lot of focus on studying the classics, literary sophistication, mathematics, and accounting.
  • 1520

    The Term America

    The Term America
    By the 1520’s it had been discovered that Columbus was wrong in thinking that the New World was part of Asia. During this time an Italian explorer names Amerigo Vespucci coined the name America. America was also the person who came up with the phrase New World.
  • 1550

    Stocks

    Stocks
    In the later parts of the 16th century, the Dutch began to look at the revenue generated from trade as an economic lifeline, Because of this, they went on to invent both formalized currency exchange and the stock market which led to great fortuned for the Dutch merchants.