Invention | Notes | ||
---|---|---|---|
1000 BCE | Dictionary | China | re-invented by Samual Johnson (England, 1604) |
1000 BCE | Kite | China | |
950 BCE | Peanut Cultivation | South America | in modern Brazil and Peru |
900 BCE | Use of Cavalry | Mesopotamia | by the Assyrians |
750 BCE | False Teeth | Etruria | in modern Italy |
750 BCE | Iron Scissors and Saws | Europe | the Celtic Hallstatt people (modern day Austria) |
750 BCE | Metal Locks and Keys | Rome | |
700 BCE | Aquaduct | Mesopotamia Middle East |
Nineveh (Assyria) Jerusalem (Judiah) |
700 BCE | Archimedes Screw | Mesopotamia | used for irrigation |
700 BCE | Galley Warships | Phoenicia Egypt |
multiple level oars |
700 BCE | Musical Notation | India | |
700 BCE | Toga and Tunic | Etruria | |
650 BCE | 3-D Painting | Greece | on vases in Corinth |
650 BCE | Legalised Prostitution | China | |
650 BCE | Windmill | Persia | to grind corn |
640 BCE | Coinage | Lydia | in modern Turkey |
600 BCE | Lighthouse | Mediterranean | a bonfire on a tower |
600 BCE | Polo | Persia | played on horseback |
592 BCE | Anchor | Greece | metal with curved arms |
550 BCE | Screw | Greece | by Archytas |
550 BCE | Water Tunnels | Greece | by Eupalinus of Megara on Samos Island |
500 BCE | Crossbow | China | |
500 BCE | First Highways | Persia | with inns for travellers along the way |
500 BCE | Passport | Persia | to allow government officials to travel without hinderence |
500 BCE | Railway | Greece | 7km at Corinth for moving boats |
440 BCE | Archery | Greece | in Crete |
400 BCE | Catapult | Greece Carthage |
|
400 BCE | Ice Cream | Persia | |
400 BCE | Mirror | Phoenicia | from Sidon (modern Lebanon) |
323 BCE | Museum | Egypt | in Alexandria |
312 BCE | Chronology | Persia | by Seleucid Empire years counted sequentially and not by ruler |
300 BCE | Metal Bit | Europe | by the Celts for controlling horses |
300 BCE | Steam Power | Egypt | used for toys by Hero |
250 BCE | Lever | Greece | explained by Archimedes |
250 BCE | Piston | Egypt | by Ctesibius |
200 BCE | Horse Collar and Harness | China | |
200 BCE | Horseshoe | Rome | |
180 BCE | Book | Greece | bound papyrus |
150 BCE | Central Heating | Rome | under floor |
150 BCE | Screw Press | Rome | used for making wine and olive oil |
100 BCE | Glass Blowing | Syria | hollow glass vessels |
100 BCE | Hinged Boat Rudder | China | |
100 BCE | Parchment | Pergamum | in modern day Turkey |
100 BCE | Public Baths | Rome | |
82 BCE | Clockwork Mechanism | Greece | used for astronomical calculations |
80 BCE | Gear | Greece | used in a bronze astronomical computer |
60 BCE | Steam Baths | Europe | in the Douro Valley (modern Portugal) |
60 BCE | Window Panes | Rome | in Pompeii from blown glass |
45 BCE | The Calendar | Rome | by Sosigenes (the Julian Calendar) |
40 BCE | First Coal Mines | China | |
40 BCE | Insecticides | China | |
30 BCE | Domes | Rome | |
30 BCE | Iron Padlock | Rome | |
30 BCE | Road Maps | Rome | |
30 BCE | Surgical Instruments | India | |
30 BCE | Thumb Print | China | used to determine identity |
15 BCE | Fish Farming | Mediterranean | in Cyprus |
10 BCE | Seed Drill | China | re-invented by Jethro Tull (England, 1701) |
Cultural events (Eurasia) of the period include:
Cities and settlements:
Religious and philosophical leaders:
Monarchs, rulers and emperors:
In the Greek world, many famous people were born during this period:
The Battle of Salamis took place in 480 BCE; Greece beat Persia and went on to dominate the Mediterranean region. Greece came under Roman rule in 146 BCE. A series of conflicts known to the Romans as the Punic Wars took place after 200 BCE: Rome beat Carthage and went on to dominate the Mediterranean area. Palestine came under Roman rule in 63 BCE. Rome invaded Celtic Britain in 55 BCE.
Writers of the Roman world included:
In Central America, the Zapotecs thrived from 400 BCE; the great pyramids at Teotihuacan were construced after 150 BCE; the Mayan civilisations began c100 BCE in Palenque.
In Africa speakers of Niger-Congo languages began migrations from the Cameroon region southwards. These languages now cover most of Africa south of the Saharan.
Iron reached Britain in 700 BCE.
On 28 May 585 BCE, Cyaxares of Media (modern Iran) and Alyattes of Lydia (modern Turkey) were about to start a battle when a total eclipse of the Sun occurred. The two nations were so frightened that they signed a peace treaty. Because eclipses can be predicted very accurately by astronomers, this remains the earliest historical event that can be dated to the exact day.