Houfeng Didong Yi: The ancient earthquake detector

The Houfeng Didong Yi was able to detect earthquakes hundreds of kilometers away
remotely. The jar device featured eight tubed projections shaped as dragon heads on the
exterior, with eight corresponding toads at the base of the jar. Each of the toads represented a
direction in which the seismic wave was traveling.

To indicate the direction of a distant earthquake, the ancient invention would drop the ball in
one of the toads.

The person who created the tool was Zhang Heng. Dubbed the Leonardo da Vinci of China,
the renaissance man was an inventor, astronomer, engineer, scientist, scholar, and artist.

He introduced his device to the imperial court in the capital of Luoyang in AD 132, seven
years before his death AD 139.
Stirrups

Stirrups refer to a sort of frame that can securely hold the feet of a horse rider. The stirrup
essentially allows a rider to keep both his feet securely in the flexible frame, thereby
allowing him to wield a weapon or otherwise ride effectively when on the horse.
Stirrups arrived in Eastern Europe around the 7th century and over subsequent centuries,
found adoption in the Western Europe. It is argued that stirrups played a critical role in
developing the military warfare of the medieval period.
They probably made cavalry the supreme unit of an average medieval army, undermining or
reducing the significance of infantry units . It was largely thanks to the stirrups that cavalry
riders could wield weapons, fight on the go and even shoot arrows while riding their horse
with minimal risk of falling off.
Phonograph – 1877

Thomas Edison found that sound could be captured and replayed using a rotating cylinder
covered with paraffin paper and a stylus. In December 1888, Edison applied for a patent and
over the next few years helped to develop the modern gramophone based on the wax-
cylinder model.
YOYO

Everyone around the world probably knows what a yoyo is. It is a rounded and stringed toy
that many children play around with. But little do many know the origin of this well-known
toy. The yoyo was used by the Philippine natives 400 years ago as a combat weapon against
the Spaniards and intruders. The original version of the “yoyo” was large and had sharp
edges as well as studs. The weapon was attached to sturdy and thick 20-feet long ropes that
would be used to fling at the enemies or prey. The modern “yoyo” toy that we all know of
was made by law undergraduate Pedro Flores. Thanks to America, this toy has been mass
produced and popularized all over the world.

Read more at: https://gineersnow.com/engineering/surprising-filipino-inventions-might-

want-know