Modern human beings are the result of millions of years of evolution, but not just physical evolution: we

are also the result of a series of innovations and inventions of technology that make our lives livable
today. Our pick for the top ten human inventions begins 1.7 million years ago.

10

Acheulean Handaxe (~1,700,000 Years Ago)

Acheulean Handaxe from Kokiselei, Kenya. P.-J. Texier © MPK/WTAP

Pointy pieces of stone or bone fixed to the end of a long stick to be used by humans to hunt animals or
fight ridiculously frequent battles with one another are known to archaeologists as projectile points, the
earliest of which are some bone ones dating to ~60,000 years ago in Sibudu Cave, South Africa. But
before we could get to projectile points, first we hominids had to invent required a whole range of stone
butchering tools.

The Acheulean Handaxe is arguably the first tool we hominids made, a triangular, leaf-shaped rock,
probably used for butchering animals. The oldest yet discovered is from the Kokiselei complex of sites in
Kenya, about 1.7 million years old. Most embarrassingly for our slow-evolving hominid cousins, the
handaxe remained virtually unchanged until ~450,000 years ago.

09

Control of Fire (800,000-400,000 Years Ago)

Camp fire. JaseMan

Now fire--that was a good idea. The ability to start a fire, or at least keep it lit, allowed people to stay
warm, fend off animals at night, cook food, and eventually bake ceramic pots. Although scholars are
pretty well divided on the issues, it is likely that we humans--or at least our ancient human ancestors--
figured out how to control fire sometime during the Lower Paleolithic, and to start fires by no later than
the beginning of the Middle Paleolithic, ~300,000 years ago.

The earliest possible human-made fires--and there is some debate about what that means--are in
evidence some 790,000 years ago, at Gesher Benot Ya'aqov, an open-air site in what is today the Jordan
Valley of Israel.

08

Art (~100,000 Years Ago)

Red ochre paint pot, Blombos Cave. Image © Science/AAAS

As hard as it is to define art, it's even more difficult to define when it began, but there are several
possible avenues of discovery.

One of the earliest forms of art consists of perforated shell beads from several sites in Africa and the
Near East such as Skhul Cave in what is today Israel (100,000-135,000 years ago); Grotte des Pigeons in
Morocco (82,000 years ago); and Blombos Cave in South Africa (75,000 years ago). In an older context at
Blombos was found red ochre paint pots made from seashells and dated to 100,000 years ago: although
we don't know what these early modern humans were painting (might have been themselves), we know
there was something arty going on!

The first art illustrated in most art history classes, of course, is cave paintings, such as those marvelous
images from Lascaux and Chauvet caves. The earliest known cave paintings date to about 40,000 years
ago, from Upper Paleolithic Europe. Chauvet cave's gasp-inducing life-like drawing of a pride of lions
dates to approximately 32,000 years ago.
07

Textiles (~40,000 Years Ago)

Chinese weaver reproducing the Cloud Brocade. China Photos/Getty Images

Clothing, bags, sandals, fishing nets, baskets: the origins of all of these and lots of other useful things
require the invention of textiles, the deliberate processing of organic fibers into containers or cloth.

As you might imagine, textiles are difficult to find archaeologically, and sometimes we have to base our
suppositions on circumstantial evidence: net impressions in a ceramic pot, net sinkers from a fishing
village, loom weights and spindle whorls from a weaver's workshop. The earliest evidence for twisted,
cut and dyed fibers are flax fibers from the Georgian site of Dzuduzana cave, between 36,000 and
30,000 years ago. But, the domestication history of flax suggests the cultivated plant wasn't primarily
used for textiles until about 6000 years ago.

06

Shoes (~40,000 Years Ago)

Leather shoe from Areni-1, from Pinhasi et al 2010

Let's face it: having something protect your bare feet from sharp rocks and biting animals and stinging
plants is of vital importance to day-to-day living. The earliest actual shoes we have come from American
caves dated to about 12,000 years ago: but scholars believe that wearing shoes changes the morphology
of your feet and toes: and evidence for that is first apparent some 40,000 years ago, from Tianyuan I
Cave in what is today China.

The photo illustrating this invention is a shoe from the Areni-1 Cave in Armenia, dated about 5500 years
ago, one of the best-preserved shoes of that age.

05

Ceramic Containers (~20,000 Years Ago)

Pottery fragment from Xianrendong. Image courtesy of Science/AAAS

The invention of ceramic containers, also called pottery vessels, involves the collecting of clay and a
tempering agent (sand, quartz, fiber, shell fragments), mixing the material together and forming a bowl
or jar. The vessel is then placed in a fire or other heat source for a period of time, to produce a long-
lived, stable container for carrying water or cooking stews.

Although fired clay figurines are known from several Upper Paleolithic contexts, the earliest evidence for
clay vessels is from the Chinese site of Xianrendong, where coarse pasted red wares with streaky
patterns on their exteriors appear in levels dated to 20,000 years ago.

04

Agriculture (~11,000 Years Ago)

Zagros Mountains of Iraq. dynamosquito

Agriculture is the human control of plants and animals: well, to be completely scientific, the going theory
is that the plants and animals also control us, but nevertheless, the partnership between plants and
humans began about 11,000 years ago in what is today southwest Asia, with the fig tree, and about 500
years later, in the same general location, with barley and wheat.

Animal domestication is much earlier--our partnership with the dog began perhaps 30,000 years ago.
That's clearly a hunting relationship, not agriculture, and the earliest farm animal domestication is the
sheep, about 11,000 years ago, in southwest Asia, and about the same place and time as plants.

03

Wine (~9,000 Years Ago)

Chateau Jiahu. Edwin Bautista

Some scholars suggest we human types have been consuming some sort of fermented fruit for at least
100,000 years: but the earliest clear evidence of alcohol production is that of the grape. The
fermentation of the fruit of grapes producing wine is yet another important invention arising from what
is today China. The earliest evidence for wine production comes from the Jiahu site, where a concoction
of rice, honey, and fruit was made in a ceramic jar some 9,000 years ago.

Some clever entrepreneur created a recipe for wine based on the evidence from Jiahu and is selling it as
Chateau Jiahu.

02

Wheeled Vehicles (~5,500 Years Ago)

Assyrian King Hunting Lions. Reproduced from Morey's 1908 Outlines of Greek History

The invention of the wheel is often cited as one of the top ten inventions in history: but consider the
invention of the wheeled vehicle, assisted by draft animals. The ability to move abundant goods across a
landscape quickly permits widespread trade. A more accessible market promotes craft specialization, so
artisans could find and connect with customers over a broader area, swap technologies with their
distant competitors and concentrate on improving their craft.

News travels faster on wheels, and ideas associated with new technologies could be moved more
quickly. So could disease, and let's not forget imperialistic kings and rulers who could use wheeled
vehicles to spread their notions of war and control more efficiently over a wider area.

01

Chocolate (~4,000 Years Ago)

Cacao tree in Brazil. Photo by Matti Blomqvist

Oh, come on--how could human history be what it is today if we did not have easy access to the
delectable luxury item distilled from the cacao bean? Chocolate was an invention of the Americas,
originating in the Amazon basin at least 4,000 years ago, and brought to the Mexican sites of Paso de la
Amada in what is today Chiapas and El Manati in Veracruz by 3600 years ago.

This peculiar looking tree with green footballs is a cacao tree, the raw source material for chocolate.
Top 10 Inventions and Discoveries of Ancient Greece That Are Remarkably Used Today
Last updated: November 20, 2019 by Saugat Adhikari

Ancient Greece can be credited with many inventions and discoveries, although many of these
have been developed and adapted by subsequent generations. The ancient Greeks’ findings in
the areas of astronomy, geography, and mathematics made them pioneers in the field of
science. The Greeks’ interest in the scientific specification of the physical world can be seen as
far back as the sixth century BC, and they have often been hailed as the fathers of science,
medicine, zoology, and many other areas. Remarkable leaders like Alexander the Great and
Pericles, and their innovative and philosophical ideas have motivated thousands of other
intellectuals throughout history. Here is a list of the top 10 inventions and discoveries of ancient
Greece that are still used today:

10. The Water Mill

Water mills were a revolutionary invention and have been used all over the world for the
purpose of metal shaping, agriculture and, most importantly, milling. To mill means to grind, and
that invariably means to grind grain. This in turn led to the production of edible food staples like
rice, cereals, pulses, flour, and so on. Ever since its invention, the water mill has seen a number
of adaptations, which have enabled people to use it to mill different raw materials. These mills
are still used in many parts of the world and serve a similar function.

This useful invention takes its origins from the earliest known Perachora wheel, created way
back in the third century BC in Greece, most likely invented by the contemporary Greek
engineer Philo of Byzantium. Earlier, the portions of the mechanical treatise on this particular
water mill written by Philo himself were regarded to have Arab origination. However, recent
research by British historian M.J.T. Lewis has proved that the water mill was an ancient Greek
invention.
9. The Odometer

One of the most widely used instruments in the present day, the odometer, measures the
distance traveled by a vehicle such as a bicycle or automobile. Even though modern odometers
are digital, not so long ago they were more mechanical, slowly evolving into electro-mechanical
with the rise of technology. This omnipresent instrument was also being used in ancient Greece.

Vitruvius first described the odometer as being used for measuring distance around 27 BC, but
evidence points towards Archimedes of Syracuse as its inventor sometime around the First
Punic War. Some historians also attribute its invention to Heron of Alexandria. Regardless of
who invented it, the odometer was widely used in the late Hellenistic period and by the Romans
for indicating the distance traveled by a vehicle. It helped revolutionize the building of roads by
accurately measuring distance. The Romans were then able to carefully mark distances with
milestones.

8. The Alarm Clock

One of the most commonly used gadgets these days is the alarm clock, and it too had its origins
in ancient Greece. Over time, the alarm clock has undergone a number of changes and
improvements from the mechanical alarm to modern gadgets like cell phones, which come with
an inbuilt alarm.

But the first alarms used by the ancient Greeks were nothing like today. The Hellenistic
engineer and inventor Ctesibius (285–222 BC) fitted his clepsydras or water clock with a dial
and pointer to indicate the time, and added an elaborate alarm system which involved pebbles
dropping on to a gong, or the blowing of a trumpet by forcing bell jars down into water and
taking the compressed air through a beating reed at pre-set times. The ancient Greek
philosopher Plato (428–348 BC) was said to possess a large water clock with an unspecified
alarm signal similar to the sound of a water organ. He used it at night, possibly for signaling the
beginning of his lectures at dawn.
7. Cartography

Cartography is the study and practice of making maps. It has played an important role in travel
and navigation since ancient times. Even though the earliest known evidence of cartography
points towards ancient Babylon as early as the ninth century BC, the Greeks took what they had
at their disposal and brought cartography into a new light. Anaximander was one of the first
pioneer cartographers to create a map of the world. Born between 611 and 610 BC, he made
important contributions to the science of astronomy and geography.

Anaximander is mentioned in Aristotle’s work, who categorized him as a pupil of the physical
school of thought, propounded by Thales. Anaximander included all inhabited areas of the world
in his map. The map appeared in tablet form and featured Ionia in the center. It was bounded on
the east by the Caspian Sea and stretched to the Pillars of Hercules in the west. Middle Europe
borders the map in the north while Ethiopia and the Nile feature at the southern end.
Anaximander made immense contributions in the fields of cartography and geography and his
map of the world was indeed a marvelous achievement of that time.

6. Olympics

The modern Olympics are one of the greatest sporting spectacles of the modern age. But when
Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the international Olympic committee, started the first modern
Olympics in 1896, he was inspired by the ancient Olympics that were held in Greece more than
2,700 years ago. According to historical records, the first ancient Olympic Games can be traced
back to 776 BC. They were dedicated to the Olympian gods and were staged on the plains of
Olympia.

The Isthmian Games was staged every two years at the Isthmus of Corinth. The Pythian Games
took place every four years near Delphi. The most famous games held at Olympia in the
southwest of Greece took place every four years. People from all over the Greek world came to
witness the spectacle. The victors were given olive leaf wreaths or crowns as prizes.

5. Basis of Geometry

Geometry is doubtless one of the oldest branches of mathematics, possibly older than
arithmetic itself. And its practical necessity demanded the use of various geometric techniques
way before any of these were recorded in history. The Egyptians, Babylonians, and the Indus
were among the first to incorporate and use many such techniques but they never worked out
the rules and axioms governing geometry. The Babylonians assumed value of Pi to be 3 and
never challenged its accuracy.

Then came the age of Greek geometry and everything changed. The Greeks insisted that
geometric facts must be established by deductive reasoning, much as it is done today. Thales of
Miletus, regarded as the father of geometry, proposed a number of axioms and rules that were
truly based on reasoning (called mathematical truths) in the sixth century BC. Then came the
likes of Pythagoras, Euclid, and Archimedes whose geometrical axioms and rules are still taught
in schools today. There were many more Greek mathematicians and geometers who
contributed to the history of geometry, but these names are the true giants, the ones who
developed geometry as we know it today.

4. Earliest Practice of Medicine

The ancient world did not fare too well when it came to the curing of disease. Back then,
diseases were supposed to be the gods’ way of punishing humans and all possible remedies
were surrounded by superstition. That all changed when Hippocrates of Cos started to collect
data and conduct experiments to show that disease was a natural process; that the signs and
symptoms of a disease were caused by the natural reactions of the body to the disease
process. Born in 460 BC, Hippocrates was an ancient Greek physician of the Classical age and
was considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of medicine. He was referred
to as the father of Western medicine in recognition of his lasting contributions to the field and
was the founder of the Hippocratic School of Medicine.

The most famous of his contributions is the Hippocratic Oath, which bears his name. It was this
document that first proposed an ethical standard among doctors. It covers many important
concepts which are still used today such as doctor–patient confidentiality.

Learn more about the discoveries of Hippocrates.

3. Modern Philosophy

Before the age of ancient Greece, the world did not see philosophy as we see it today. It was
more shrouded in superstition and magic than it ever would be. For instance, the Egyptians
believed that if the Nile rose and flooded, making the soil dark and fertile, their pharaoh had
commanded it. But the Greeks approached philosophy from a different direction. They
developed philosophy as a way of understanding the world around them, without resorting to
religion, myth, or magic. In fact the early Greek philosophers were also scientists who observed
and studied the known world, the earth, seas, mountains, solar system, planetary motion, and
astral phenomena.
Their philosophy, based on reasoning and observation of the known world, played a pivotal role
in the shaping of the Western philosophical tradition. Philosophers like Socrates, Plato,
and Aristotle were such influential philosophers that their studies were used to teach
subsequent ages of Romans and other Western cultures.

2. Concept of Democracy
The idea of every citizen having equal opportunity and a say in government constitutes the
concept of democracy. It is one of the most widely used styles of governance in the modern
world. And even more fascinating is the fact that democracy also had its origins in ancient
Greece. In fact, the concept and the implementation of democracy can be traced back from the
present day to ancient Athens.

Although there is evidence that democratic forms of government, in a broad sense, may have
existed in several areas of the world well before the turn of the fifth century, it is generally
believed that the concepts of democracy and the constitution were created in one particular
place and time – in ancient Athens around 508 BC. For this reason, Athens is regarded as the
birthplace of democracy. This transition from exploitation by the aristocracy to a political system
where all members of society have an equal share of formal political power had a significant
impact on future civilizations.

1. Discoveries in Modern Science

It would only be fair to say that, given the evidence, the ancient Greeks made some outstanding
contributions in various branches of science. They made some astounding discoveries in the
fields of astronomy, biology, and physics that broke with contemporary stereotypes. Many
ancient Greek intellectuals excelled in mathematics, physics, and astronomy.

Aristotle introduced the idea of the earth as a globe. He also classified animals and is often
referred to as the father of zoology. Theophrastus was the first botanist that we know of in
written history. The Pythagoreans not only made the earliest advances in philosophy and
geometry, but they also proposed the heliocentric hypothesis of the earth revolving around the
sun and not the other way around as was believed at that time. This idea was so ahead of its
time that it was regarded as blasphemy. Archimedes discovered that submerging a solid object
in water would displace the same amount of liquid as the object’s weight. The Greeks had so
much influence in the early concepts of science that most symbols used in physics and math
equations are derived from the Greek alphabet.

Conclusion

Without a doubt, Greek society inspired the achievements that shaped the foundation of ancient
Western civilization. They were daring enough to go in directions no other civilization had
ventured into before. They went on to accomplish great feats in the arts, philosophy, science,
architecture, and many more. Although some of their ideas may have been discarded over time,
many of the ancient Greeks’ discoveries and inventions are still used today. The major
discovery that the sun is in the center of the solar system was once ignored, but later
rediscovered and agreed upon. From cannons to plumbing, urban planning, wheelbarrows,
showers, lighthouses, canals and many more, ancient Greek inventions and discoveries are
numerous and widespread. A single list cannot do them justice.
Top 10 Inventions of the Middle Ages

The middle ages (5th – 15th Centuries AD), often termed The Dark Ages, were actually a time
of great discovery and invention. The Middle ages also saw major advances in technologies that
already existed, and the adoption of many Eastern technologies in the West. This is a list of the
ten greatest inventions of the Middle Ages (excluding military inventions).

1. The Heavy Plough 5th Century AD

In the basic mouldboard plough the depth of the cut is adjusted by lifting against the runner in
the furrow, which limited the weight of the plough to what the ploughman could easily lift. These
ploughs were fairly fragile, and were unsuitable for breaking up the heavier soils of northern
Europe. The introduction of wheels to replace the runner allowed the weight of the plough to
increase, and in turn allowed the use of a much larger mouldboard that was faced with metal.
These heavy ploughs led to greater food production and eventually a significant population
increase around 600 AD.

2. Tidal Mills 7th Century AD

A tide mill is a specialist type of water mill driven by tidal rise and fall. A dam with a sluice is
created across a suitable tidal inlet, or a section of river estuary is made into a reservoir. As the
tide comes in, it enters the mill pond through a one way gate, and this gate closes automatically
when the tide begins to fall. When the tide is low enough, the stored water can be released to
turn a water wheel. The earliest excavated tide mill, dating from 787, is the Nendrum Monastery
mill on an island in Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland. Its millstones are 830mm in diameter
and the horizontal wheel is estimated to have developed 7/8HP at its peak. Remains of an
earlier mill dated at 619 were also found.

3. The Hourglass 9th Century AD

Since the hourglass was one of the few reliable methods of measuring time at sea, it has been
speculated that it was in use as far back as the 11th century, where it would have
complemented the magnetic compass as an aid to navigation. However, it is not until the 14th
century that evidence of their existence was found, appearing in a painting by Ambrogio
Lorenzetti 1328. The earliest written records come from the same period and appear in lists of
ships stores. From the 15th century onwards they were being used in a wide range of
applications at sea, in the church, in industry and in cookery. They were the first dependable,
reusable and reasonably accurate measure of time. During the voyage of Ferdinand Magellan
around the globe, his vessels kept 18 hourglasses per ship. It was the job of a ship’s page to
turn the hourglasses and thus provide the times for the ship’s log. Noon was the reference time
for navigation, which did not depend on the glass, as the sun would be at its zenith.
4. Blast Furnace 12th Century AD

The oldest known blast furnaces in the West were built in Dürstel in Switzerland, the Märkische
Sauerland in Germany, and Sweden at Lapphyttan where the complex was active between
1150 and 1350. At Noraskog in the Swedish county of Järnboås there have also been found
traces of blast furnaces dated even earlier, possibly to around 1100. Knowledge of certain
technological advances was transmitted as a result of the General Chapter of the Cistercian
monks, including the blast furnace, as the Cistercians are known to have been skilled
metallurgists. According to Jean Gimpel, their high level of industrial technology facilitated the
diffusion of new techniques: “Every monastery had a model factory, often as large as the church
and only several feet away, and waterpower drove the machinery of the various industries
located on its floor.” Iron ore deposits were often donated to the monks along with forges to
extract the iron, and within time surpluses were being offered for sale. The Cistercians became
the leading iron producers in Champagne, France, from the mid-13th century to the 17th
century, also using the phosphate-rich slag from their furnaces as an agricultural fertilizer.

5. Liquor 12th Century AD

The first evidence of true distillation comes from Babylonia and dates from the fourth millennium
BC. Specially shaped clay pots were used to extract small amounts of distilled alcohol through
natural cooling for use in perfumes, however it is unlikely this device ever played a meaningful
role in the history of the development of the still. Freeze distillation, the “Mongolian still”, are
known to have been in use in Central Asia as early as the 7th century AD. The first method
involves freezing the alcoholic beverage and removing water crystals. The development of the
still with cooled collector—necessary for the efficient distillation of spirits without freezing—was
an invention of Muslim alchemists in the 8th or 9th centuries. In particular, Geber (Jabir Ibn
Hayyan, 721–815) invented the alembic still; he observed that heated wine from this still
released a flammable vapor, which he described as “of little use, but of great importance to
science”

6. Eyeglasses 13th Century

In 1268 Roger Bacon made the earliest recorded comment on the use of lenses for optical
purposes, but magnifying lenses inserted in frames were used for reading both in Europe and
China at this time, and it is a matter of controversy whether the West learned from the East or
vice versa. In Europe eyeglasses first appeared in Italy, their introduction being attributed to
Alessandro di Spina of Florence. The first portrait to show eyeglasses is that of Hugh of
Provence by Tommaso da Modena, painted in 1352. In 1480 Domenico Ghirlandaio painted St.
Jerome at a desk from which dangled eyeglasses; as a result, St. Jerome became the patron
saint of the spectacle-makers’ guild. The earliest glasses had convex lenses to aid
farsightedness. A concave lens for myopia, or nearsightedness, is first evident in the portrait of
Pope Leo X painted by Raphael in 1517.

7. The Mechanical Clock 13th Century AD

The origin of the all-mechanical escapement clock is unknown; the first such devices may have
been invented and used in monasteries to toll a bell that called the monks to prayers. The first
mechanical clocks to which clear references exist were large, weight-driven machines fitted into
towers and known today as turret clocks. These early devices struck only the hours and did not
have hands or a dial. The oldest surviving clock in England is that at Salisbury Cathedral, which
dates from 1386. A clock erected at Rouen, France, in 1389 is still extant (photo above), and
one built for Wells Cathedral in England is preserved in the Science Museum in London.

8. Spinning Wheel 13th Century AD

The spinning wheel was probably invented in India, though its origins are obscure. It reached
Europe via the Middle East in the European Middle Ages. It replaced the earlier method of hand
spinning, in which the individual fibres were drawn out of a mass of wool held on a stick, or
distaff, twisted together to form a continuous strand, and wound on a second stick, or spindle.
The first stage in mechanizing the process was to mount the spindle horizontally in bearings so
that it could be rotated by a cord encircling a large, hand-driven wheel. The distaff, carrying the
mass of fibre, was held in the left hand, and the wheel slowly turned with the right. Holding the
fibre at an angle to the spindle produced the necessary twist.
9. Quarantine 14th Century AD

In the 14th century the growth of maritime trade and the recognition that plague was introduced
by ships returning from the Levant led to the adoption of quarantine in Venice. It was decreed
that ships were to be isolated for a limited period to allow for the manifestation of the disease
and to dissipate the infection brought by persons and goods. Originally the period was 30 days,
trentina, but this was later extended to 40 days, quarantina. The choice of this period is said to
be based on the period that Christ and Moses spent in isolation in the desert. In 1423 Venice
set up its first lazaretto, or quarantine station, on an island near the city. The Venetian system
became the model for other European countries and the basis for widespread quarantine control
for several centuries.
10. The Printing Press of Gutenberg 15th Century AD

Although movable type, as well as paper, first appeared in China, it was in Europe that printing
first became mechanized. The earliest mention of a printing press is in a lawsuit in Strasbourg in
1439 revealing construction of a press for Johannes Gutenberg and his associates. (Scant
evidence exists to support claims of Laurens Janszoon Coster as the inventor of printing.) The
invention of the printing press itself obviously owed much to the medieval paper press, in turn
modeled after the ancient wine-and-olive press of the Mediterranean area. A long handle was
used to turn a heavy wooden screw, exerting downward pressure against the paper, which was
laid over the type mounted on a wooden platen. In its essentials, the wooden press reigned
supreme for more than 300 years, with a hardly varying rate of 250 sheets per hour printed on
one side.
Though there is a dispute as to the exact years that bookend the Middle Ages, most sources say 500 A.D.
to 1450 A.D. Many history books call this time the Dark Ages as it reflected a lull in learning and literacy,
but, in fact, there were plenty of inventions and highlights during this time. 

The time period was known for its famine, plague, feuding and warring, namely the biggest period of
bloodshed was during the Crusades. The church was the overwhelming power in the West and the most
educated people were the clergy. While there was a suppression of knowledge and learning, the Middle
Ages continued to be a period full of discovery and innovation, especially in the Far East. A lot of
inventions sprouted from Chinese culture. The following highlights range from the year 1000 to 1400.

Paper Money as Currency 

In 1023, the first government-issued paper money was printed in China. Paper money was an innovation
that replaced paper money that had been issued by private enterprises in the early 10th century in the
Szechuan province. When he returned to Europe, Marco Polo wrote a chapter about paper money, but
paper money did not take off in Europe until Sweden began printing paper currency in 1601. 

Movable Type Printing Press 

Although Johannes Gutenberg is usually credited with inventing the first printing press about 400 years
later, it was, in fact, Han Chinese innovator Bi Sheng (990–1051) during the Northern Song
Dynasty (960–1127), who gave us the world's first movable type printing press technology.
He printing paper books from ceramic porcelain china materials around 1045.

Magnetic Compass 

The magnetic compass was "rediscovered" in 1182 by the European world for maritime use. Despite
European claims to the invention, it was first used by the Chinese around 200 A.D. mainly for fortune-
telling. The Chinese used the magnetic compass for sea travel in the 11th century.

Buttons for Clothing

Functional buttons with buttonholes for fastening or closing clothes made their first appearance
in Germany in the 13th century. Prior to that time, buttons were ornamental rather than
functional. Buttons became widespread with the rise of snug-fitting garments in 13th- and 14th-
century Europe.

The use of buttons used as adornment or decoration have been found dating back to the Indus Valley
Civilization around 2800 B.C., China around 2000 B.C. and the ancient Roman civilization.

Numbering System 

Italian mathematician, Leonardo Fibonacci introduced the Hindu-Arabic numbering system to the

Western World primarily through his composition in 1202 of Liber Abaci,  also known as "The Book of
Calculation." He also introduced Europe to the sequence of Fibonacci numbers.

Gunpowder Formula 

English scientist, philosopher, and Franciscan friar Roger Bacon were the first European to describe in
detail the process of making gunpowder. Passages in his books, the "Opus Majus" and the "Opus
Tertium" are usually taken as the first European descriptions of a mixture containing the essential
ingredients of gunpowder. It is believed that Bacon most likely witnessed at least one demonstration
of Chinese firecrackers, possibly obtained by Franciscans who visited the Mongolian Empire during this
period. Among his other ideas, he proposed flying machines and motorized ships and carriages. 

Gun

It is hypothesized that the Chinese invented black powder during the 9th century. A couple hundred
years later, a gun or firearm was invented by Chinese innovators around 1250 for usage as a signaling
and celebration device and remained as such for hundreds of years. The oldest surviving firearm is
the Heilongjiang hand cannon, which dates back to 1288.

Eyeglasses 

It is estimated about 1268 in Italy, the earliest version of eyeglasses was invented. They were used by
monks and scholars. They were held in front of the eyes or balanced on the nose.

Mechanical Clocks

A major advance occurred with the invention of the verge escapement, which made possible the first
mechanical clocks around 1280 in Europe. A verge escapement is a mechanism in a mechanical clock
that controls its rate by allowing the gear train to advance at regular intervals or ticks.

Windmills

The earliest recorded use of windmills found by archaeologists is 1219 in China. Early windmills were
used to power grain mills and water pumps. The concept of the windmill spread to Europe after the
Crusades. The earliest European designs, documented in 1270. In general, these mills had four blades
mounted on a central post. They had a cog and ring gear that translated the horizontal motion of the
central shaft into vertical motion for the grindstone or wheel which would then be used for pumping
water or grinding grain.

Modern Glassmaking

The 11th century saw the emergence in Germany of new ways of making sheet glass by blowing
spheres. The spheres were then formed into cylinders and then cut while still hot, after which the sheets
were flattened. This technique was perfected in 13th century Venice around 1295. What made
Venetian Murano glass significantly different was that the local quartz pebbles were almost pure silica,
which made the clearest and purest glass. The Venetian ability to produce this superior form of glass
resulted in a trade advantage over other glass producing lands.

First Sawmill for Shipmaking

In 1328, some historical sources show that a sawmill was developed to form lumber to build ships. A
blade is pulled back and forth using a reciprocating saw and water wheel system.

Future Inventions

Future generations built upon the inventions of the past to come up with marvelous devices, some that
were unfathomable to the people in the Middle Ages. The following years include lists of those
inventions.
3D printing, E-cigarettes among the most important inventions of the 21st century

Angelo Young and Michael B. Sauter

The human race has always innovated, and in a relatively short time went from building fires and making
stone-tipped arrows to creating smartphone apps and autonomous robots. Today, technological progress
will undoubtedly continue to change the way we work, live, and survive in the coming decades.

Since the beginning of the new millennium, the world has witnessed the emergence of social media,
smartphones, self-driving cars, and autonomous flying vehicles. There have also been huge leaps in
energy storage, artificial intelligence, and medical science. Men and women have mapped the human
genome and are grappling with the ramifications of biotechnology and gene editing. 

We are facing immense challenges in global warming and food security, among many other issues. While
human innovation has contributed to many of the problems we are facing, it is also human innovation and
ingenuity that can help humanity deal with these issues. These are 21 strategies that could avert climate
disaster. 

Get ready:These are the best vehicles coming in 2020

Small-business headaches:Ruling on sales tax creates expenses for some small-business owners

24/7 Wall St. examined media reports and other sources on the latest far-reaching innovations to find
some of the most important 21st-century inventions. In some cases, though there were some precursor
research and ancillary technologies before 2001, the innovation did not become available to the public
until this century. This list focuses on innovations (such as touch screen glass) that support products
rather than the specific products themselves (like the iPhone). 

It remains to be seen if all the technology on this list will continue to have an impact throughout the
century. Legislation in the United States may limit the longevity of e-cigarettes, for example. But some of
the inventions of the last 20 years will likely have staying power for the foreseeable future. Here are some
inventions that are hundreds of years old but are still widely used today.
1. 3D printing

Most inventions come as a result of previous ideas and concepts, and 3D printing is no different. The
earliest application of the layering method used by today's 3D printers took place in the manufacture of
topographical maps in the late 19th century, and 3D printing as we know it began in 1980.

The convergence of cheaper manufacturing methods and open-source software, however, has led to a
revolution of 3D printing in recent years. Today, the technology is being used in the production of
everything from lower-cost car parts to bridges to less painful ballet slippers and it is even considered for
artificial organs.

2. E-cigarettes

While components of the technology have existed for decades, the first modern e-cigarette was introduced
in 2006. Since then, the devices have become wildly popular as an alternative to traditional cigarettes, and
new trends, such as the use of flavored juice, have contributed to the success of companies like Juul.

Recent studies have shown that there remains a great deal of uncertainty and risk surrounding the devices,
with an increasing number of deaths and injuries linked to vaping. In early 2020, the FDA issued a
widespread ban on many flavors of cartridge-based e-cigarettes, in part because those flavors are
especially popular with children and younger adults.

3. Augmented reality

Augmented reality, in which digital graphics are overlaid onto live footage to convey information in real
time, has been around for a while. Only recently, however, following the arrival of more powerful
computing hardware and the creation of an open source video tracking software library known as
ARToolKit that the technology has really taken off.
Smartphone apps like the Pokémon Go game and Snapchat filters are just two small popular examples of
modern augmented reality applications. The technology is being adopted as a tool in manufacturing,
health care, travel, fashion, and education.

4. Birth control patch

The early years of the millennia have brought about an innovation in family planning, albeit one that is
still focused only on women and does nothing to protect against sexually transmitted infections. Still, the
birth control patch was first released in the United States in 2002 and has made it much easier for women
to prevent unintended pregnancies. The plastic patch contains the same estrogen and progesterone
hormones found in birth control pills and delivers them in the same manner as nicotine patches do to help
people quit tobacco products.

5. Blockchain

You've likely heard about it even if you don't fully understand it. The simplest explanation of blockchain
is that it is an incorruptible way to record transactions between parties – a shared digital ledger that
parties can only add to and that is transparent to all members of a peer-to-peer network where the
blockchain is logged and stored.

The technology was first deployed in 2008 to create Bitcoin, the first decentralized cryptocurrency, but it
has since been adopted by the financial sector and other industries for myriad uses, including money
transfers, supply chain monitoring, and food safety.

6. Capsule endoscopy

Advancements in light emitting electrodes, image sensors, and optical design in the '90s led to the
emergence of capsule endoscopy, first used in patients in 2001. The technology uses a tiny wireless
camera the size of a vitamin pill that the patient swallows.
As the capsule traverses the digestive system, doctors can examine the gastrointestinal system in a far less
intrusive manner. Capsule endoscopy can be used to identify the source of internal bleeding,
inflammations of the bowel ulcers, and cancerous tumors.

7. Modern artificial pancreas

More formally known as closed-loop insulin delivery system, the artificial pancreas has been around since
the late '70s, but the first versions were the size of a filing cabinet. In recent years, the artificial pancreas,
used primarily to treat type 1 diabetes, became portable. The first artificial pancreas (the modern, portable
kind) was approved for use in the United States in 2016.

The system continuously monitors blood glucose levels, calculates the amount of insulin required, and
automatically delivers it through a small pump. British studies have shown that patients using these
devices spent more time in their ideal glucose-level range. In December 2019, the FDA approved an even
more advanced version of the artificial pancreas, called Control-IQ, developed by UVA.

8. E-readers

Sony was the first company to release an e-reader using a so-called microencapsulated electrophoretic
display, commonly referred to as e-ink. E-ink technology, which mimics ink on paper that is easy on the
eyes and consumes less power, had been around since the '70s (and improved in the '90s), but the
innovation of e-readers had to wait until after the broader demand for e-books emerged. Sony was quickly
overtaken by Amazon's Kindle after its 2007 debut. The popularity of e-readers has declined with the
emergence of tablets and smartphones, but they still command loyalty from bookworms worldwide.

9. Gene editing

Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley and a separate team from Harvard and the Broad
Institute independently discovered in 2012 that a bacterial immune system known as CRISPR (an
acronym for clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) could be used as a powerful gene-
editing tool to make detailed changes to any organism's DNA. This discovery heralded a new era in
biotechnology.
The discovery has the potential to eradicate diseases by altering the genes in mice and mosquitoes to
combat the spread of Lyme disease and malaria but is also raising ethical questions, especially with
regards to human gene editing such as for reproductive purposes.

10. High-density battery packs

Tesla electric cars have received so much attention largely because of their batteries. The batteries,
located underneath the passenger cabin, consist of thousands of high-density lithium ion cells, each barely
larger than a standard AA battery, nestled into a large, heavy battery pack that also offers Tesla electric
cars a road-gripping low center of gravity and structural support.

The brainchild of Tesla co-founder J.B. Straubel, these battery modules pack more of a punch than
standard (and cheaper) electric car batteries. These packs are also being used in residential, commercial,
and grid-scale energy storage devices.

11. Digital assistants

One of the biggest technology trends in recent years has been smart home technology, which can now be
found in everyday consumer devices like door locks, light bulbs, and kitchen appliances. The key piece of
technology that has helped make all this possible is the digital assistant. Apple was the first major tech
company to introduce a virtual assistant called Siri, in 2011, for iOS.

Other digital assistants, such as Microsoft's Cortana and Amazon's Alexa, have since entered the market.
The assistants gained another level of popularity when tech companies introduced smart speakers.
Notably, Google Home and Amazon's Echo can now be found in millions of homes, with an ever-
growing range of applications.

12. Robot heart

Artificial hearts have been around for some time. They are mechanical devices connected to the actual
heart or implanted in the chest to assist or substitute a heart that is failing. Abiomed, a Danvers,
Massachusetts-based company, developed a robot heart called AbioCor, a self-contained apparatus made
of plastic and titanium.

AbioCor is a self-contained unit with the exception of a wireless battery pack that is attached to the wrist.
Robert Tools, a technical librarian with congestive heart failure, received the first one on July 2, 2001.

13. Retinal implant

When he was a medical student, Dr. Mark Humayun watched his grandmother gradually lose her vision.
The ophthalmologist and bioengineer focused on finding a solution to what causes blindness. He
collaborated with Dr. James Weiland, a colleague at the USC Gayle and Edward Roski Eye Institute, and
other experts to create the Argus II.

The Argus II is a retinal prosthesis device that is considered to be a breakthrough for those suffering from
retinitis pigmentosa, an inherited retinal degenerative condition that can lead to blindness. The condition
afflicts 1.5 million people worldwide. The device was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration in 2013.

14. Mobile operating systems

Mobile operating systems for smartphones and other portable gadgets have enabled the proliferation of
smartphones and other mobile gadgets thanks to their intuitive user interfaces and seemingly endless app
options. Mobile operating systems have become the most consumer-facing of computer operating
systems. When Google first purchased Android Inc. in 2005, the operating system was just two years old,
and the first iPhone (with its iOS) was still two years from its commercial debut.

15. Multi-use rockets

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk may not necessarily be remembered for his contributions to electric
cars innovations, but rather for his contributions to space exploration. Musk's private space exploration
company, SpaceX, has developed rockets that can be recovered and reused in other launches – a more
efficient and cheaper alternative to the method of using the rockets only once and letting them fall into the
ocean.

On March 30, 2017, SpaceX became the first to deploy one of these used rockets, the Falcon 9. Blue
Origin, a space-transport company founded by Amazon.com's Jeff Bezos, has launched its own reusable
rocket.

16. Online streaming

Online streaming would not be possible without the convergence of widespread broadband internet access
and cloud computing data centers used to store content and direct web traffic. While internet-based live
streaming has been around almost since the internet was broadly adopted in the '90s, it was not until the
mid-2000s that the internet could handle the delivery of streaming media to large audiences. Online
streaming is posing an existential threat to existing models of delivering media entertainment, such as
cable television and movie theaters.

17. Robotic exoskeletons

Ever since researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, created in 2003 a robotic device that
attaches to the lower back to augment strength in humans, the demand for robotic exoskeletons for
physical rehabilitation has increased, and manufacturing has taken off.

Wearable exoskeletons are increasingly helping people with mobility issues (particularly lower body
paralysis), and are being used in factories. Ford Motor Company, for example, has used an exoskeleton
vest that helps auto assemblers with repetitive tasks in order to lessen the wear and tear on shoulders and
arms.

18. Small satellites

As modern electronics devices have gotten smaller, so, too, have orbital satellites, which companies,
governments, and organizations use to gather scientific data, collect images of Earth, and for
telecommunications and intelligence purposes. These tiny, low-cost orbital devices fall into different
categories by weight, but one of the most common is the shoebox-sized CubeSat. As of October 2019,
over 2,400 satellites weighing between 1 kg (2.2 lbs) and 40 kgs (88 lbs) have been launched, according
to Nanosats Database.

19. Solid-state lidar

Lidar is an acronym that stands for light detection and ranging, and is also a portmanteau of the words
"light" and "radar." The technology today is most often used in self-driving cars. Like radars, which use
radio waves to bounce off objects and determine their distance, lidar uses a laser pulse to do the same.

By sending enough lasers in rotation, it can create a constantly updated high-resolution image map of the
surrounding environment. The next steps in the technology would include smaller and cheaper lidar
sensors, and especially solid state ones – no spinning tops on the cars.

20. Tokenization

If you have ever used the chip embedded in a credit or debit card to make a payment by tapping rather
than swiping, then you have benefited from the heightened security of tokenization. This data security
technology replaces sensitive data with an equivalent randomized number †known as a token †that is
used only once per transaction and has no value to would-be hackers and identity thieves attempting to
intercept transaction data as it travels from sender to recipient. Social media site classmates.com was
reportedly the first to use tokenization in 2001 to protect its subscribers' sensitive data. Tokenization is
also being touted as a way to prevent hackers from interfering with driverless cars.

21. Touchscreen glass

Super-thin, chemically strengthened glass is a key component of the touchscreen world. This sturdy,
transparent material is what helps keep your iPad or Samsung smartphone from shattering into pieces at
the slightest drop. Even if these screens crack, in most cases the damage is cosmetic and the gadget still
works.
Corning Inc., already a leader in the production of treated glass used in automobiles, was asked by Apple
to develop 1.3-mm treated glass for its iPhone, which debuted in 2007. Corning's Gorilla Glass is still the
most well known, though other brands exist in the marketplace.

24/7 Wall Street is a USA TODAY content partner offering financial news and commentary. Its content is
produced independently of USA TODAY.