Emergence of writing in Egypt with first pharaoh iconography (Narmer Palette)
Culture
-3200
Introduction of horse and chariot--became status symbol of military elite
Culture
-1555
Trieme developed in Greece
Invention
-650
Introduction of demotic script
Culture
-550
Chinese develop stirrup in about 300 BC
Invention
-300
Formula for gunpowder (saltpeter, sulphur, and charcoal) discovered in China
War
800
Banknotes invented by Chinese in Tang Dynasty
Invention
806
Chinese in Tang Dynasty invent woodblock printing
Invention
868
Chinese invent canal lock during construction of Grand Canal
Invention
984
Chinese first use compass for navigation in the Song Dynasty
Invention
1050
Chinese first use cannon during the Song Dynasty
Invention
1128
Shipborne artillery was developed in about 1350 in Europe
Invention
1350
The Gutenberg Bible is Europe's first printed book for mass production
Invention
1455
The rifled barrel was invented in about 1490
Invention
1490
Flintlock musket invented
Invention
1620
John Kay invents the flying shuttle to revolutionize the production of cotton
Invention
1733
James Watt patents new steam engine that dispenses with hot-cold routine
Invention
1769
John Harrison receives reward for invention of marine chronometer
Transportation
1773
First Iron Bridge opens in Shropshire, England
Transportation
1781
Montgolfier brothers demonstrate hot-air balloon flight
Invention
1783
Andrew Meikle invents threshing machine
Invention
1786
Edward Jenner, an English doctor, invents the smallpox vaccination
Invention
1796
Humphrey Davy predicts nitrous oxide (laughing gas) will be used as anesthetic
Science
1799
Alessandro Volta invents the battery
Invention
1800
Richard Trevithick produces the first locomotive to carry passengers
Transportation
1804
Michael Faraday invents the electric motor
Invention
1822
Stephenson establishes the first successful railway: Stockton to Darlington
Transportation
1825
Samuel Morey invents internal combustion engine
Invention
1826
The first photograph was taken by Niepce after finding a suitable image fixative
Invention
1827
Stephenson's Rocket wins race of locomotives
Transportation
1829
Faraday experiments with electromagnetism and invents the first dynamo
Invention
1831
Samuel Morse demonstrates Morse Code
Invention
1838
The Great Western, the first transatlantic steamship, leaves Bristol for New York
Transportation
1838
Daguerre invents the first practical photographic process
Invention
1839
Eduard Simon invents polystyrene
Invention
1839
British mail service expands as adhesive postage stamp used for the first time
Invention
1840
Ether is used as a general anesthetic for the first time
Invention
1842
Charles Goodyear patents a process for vulcanizing rubber
Invention
1844
Singer produces the first commercially-successful sewing machine
Invention
1850
First ironclad frigate
Invention
1859
Great Eastern crosses Atlantic--first passengers & later lays first lasting cable
Transportation
1860
Michaux invents the Velocipede--considered to be the first true bicycle
Transportation
1861
First manually powered machine gun built by Richard Gatlin
Invention
1862
Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard invent pasteurization
Invention
1862
First underground passenger railway serves London
Transportation
1863
First successful trans-Atlantic submarine telegraph cable
Invention
1865
Alfred Nobel invents dynamite
Invention
1867
Alexander Graham Bell patents telephone
Invention
1876
Thomas Edison invents phonograph
Invention
1877
Thomas Alva Edison invents incandescent light bulb
Invention
1878
First automatic machine gun built by Hiram Maxim
Invention
1884
Karl Benz invents the first modern car
Transportation
1886
Gottlieb Daimler invents petrol engine
Invention
1886
Lumiere brothers demonstrate the first moving picture show
Invention
1895
William Rontgen discovers the usefulness of x-rays in medical diagnosis
Invention
1895
Count Zeppelin's airship makes its maiden flight in Germany
Transportation
1900
Caruso, Metropolitan Opera House principal tenor, records voice (gramophone disc)
Invention
1902
Wright Brothers fly airplane for 59 seconds beginning a new age of transportation
Transportation
1903
First Ford Model-T rolls off assembly line in Detroit, Michigan.
Transportation
1908
Alcock and Brown are first to fly across Atlantic Ocean nonstop
Transportation
1919
Robert Goddard launches first liquid-fuel rocket
Transportation
1926
John Logie Baird gives first demonstration of television
Telecom
1926
Sir Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin as the first antibiotic
Health
1928
Robert Watson-Watt invents radar to detect aircraft
Telecom
1935
Wallace Carothers invents nylon
Invention
1935
Hindenburg explodes into flames to end the manufacturing of zeppelins (airships)
Transportation
1937
Enrico Fermi builds first nuclear reactor
Invention
1942
First combat use of jet aircraft
Transportation
1944
Igor Sikorsky develops the first mass-produced helicopter
Transportation
1944
In July in the desert of New Mexico, a nuclear bomb was tested for the first time
Invention
1945
Three scientists at Bell Telephone Laboratories develop the first transistor
Telecom
1947
First passenger jet
Transportation
1952
First hydrogen bomb explodes when tested at Enewetak Atoll in the Pacific Ocean
Invention
1952
First birth control pill
Health
1954
First nuclear-powered submarines launched
Invention
1954
Soviets are the first into outer space as they launch Sputnik into orbit
Invention
1957
Kenneth Masterman-Smith invents communications satellite
Invention
1958
Intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBs) begin to be developed
Invention
1960
Laser invented
Invention
1960
Willard F. Libby wins Nobel Prize in chemistry for developing Carbon-14 dating
Invention
1960
Soviets lead the space race with the first man (Yuri Gagarin) launched into orbit
Transportation
1961
Telstar I enables the first television transmitted by orbiting satellite
Telecom
1962
On July 21, American astronauts walk on the moon
Invention
1969
Concorde, a shared project of France & Britain, is the first supersonic airliner
Transportation
1969
Intel invents microprocessor
Invention
1969
Apollo 13 aborts mission to land on moon after oxygen tank explodes
Transportation
1970
Ray Tomlinson invents email
Invention
1971
Xerox PARC invents personal computer
Invention
1973
Martin Cooper (Motorola) invents mobile phone
Invention
1973
Allen & Gates start Microsoft to build software for IBM personal computers
Telecom
1975
Steve Wozniak & Steve Jobs create Apple Inc. to build personal computers
Telecom
1976
Cruise missiles are deployed for first time
Invention
1980
Phillips Electronics (Netherlands) & Sony Corporation (Japan) invent compact disc
Invention
1980
IBM releases first personal computer with 8088 CPU, floppy disc & 64 KB of RAM
Invention
1981
Tim Berners-Lee invents World Wide Web
Invention
1990
US Department of Defense invents global positioning system
Invention
1995
Apple invents portable media player
Invention
2001
Akademik Lononosov in Russia's Far East is first Small Modular Reactor (SMR)
Invention
2019
Apple releases iPhone 13
Invention
2021
Level I trauma centers in the US reduce mortality by 25% vs. non-trauma center
Health
2021