125,000 YEARS ago
Fire is one of the most important
of the most. The use of fire by humans
has long been considered as a defining
property in intelligence, separating us
from animals.
2,000 BC
Cuneiform, system of writing used in
the ancient Middle East. The name, a coinage
from Latin and Middle French roots meaning
“wedge-shaped,” has been the
modern designation from the early 18th
century onward. Cuneiform was the most
widespread and historically significant writing
system in the ancient Middle East.
50,000 YEARS ago
Stone hunting, in the early
Stone Age, people made simple hand-
axes out of stones. They
made hammers from bones or antlers
and they sharpened sticks to use as
hunting spears.
3,000 BC
Cuneiform, system of writing used in
the ancient Middle East. The name, a coinage
from Latin and Middle French roots meaning
“wedge-shaped,” has been the
modern designation from the early 18th
century onward. Cuneiform was the most
widespread and historically significant writing
system in the ancient Middle East.
12,000 YEARS ago
The development of agricultural about
12,000 years ago changed the way
humans lived. They switched from
nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyles to
permanent settlements and farming.
4,000 YEARS ago
Egyptians made the first spoked
wheel around 4,000 years ago. The next
major advance on the wheel came in the
19th century, with the invention of an
air-filled rubber wheel, by William
Thompson. Archaeologists find 2,000-
year-old ‘almost intact’ Roman chariot
near the ancient city of Pompeii