THE CARIBBEAN SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
University of technology, Jamaica
    jake/timeline for a history of technology.xls, last modified  26.9.1998
TIMELINE FOR A HISTORY OF TECHNOLOGY
Date Category Event
-380000 Building Brushwood Shelter, Terra Amata, France
-19000 Hunt Solutrean Tool Tradition
-18000 Building Mammoth Bone Hut, Mezhirich, Ukraine
-13000 Hunt Microlith Obsidian Tools from Kenya
-10000 Manuf. Jomon Pottery, Japan
-8500 Hunt Development of the bow and arrow
-7500 Hunt Clovis Point Technique, Americas
-6500 Med. Trephining, drilling the skull, presumably to relieve pain
-4000 Bricks Bricks first made in Egypt and Assyria
-4000 Manuf. Metal working developed in Iran
-3500 Comm. Egyptians are first to develop writing
-3500 Manuf. Potter's wheel in Mesopotamia
-3000 Transp. Wheel appears in Mesopotamia
-3000 Agric. Plough used in Egypt and Mesopotamia
-3000 Manuf. Glass first made in Egypt
-3000 Manuf. Potter's wheel in China
-2500 Manuf. Drilling machines developed in Egypt
-2000 War. Egyptians develop chariot
-1800 Agric. The plough, Denmark
-1600 Med. Egyptian physicians know how to set bone & treat fever
-1500 Manuf. Iron working developed in Mesopotamia
-1000 Manuf. Bronze Casting in China
-747 Time Calendar developed by Babylonians
-700 Med. Dentures first worn by Etruscans using human or animal teeth
-600 Econ. Coins first made in Lydia, Turkey
-500 Econ. First working bead frame abacus made in China
-400 Transp. Saddle invented in Asia
-400 Med. Hippocrates establishes code of practice for physicians
-300 Agric. First water wheels with horizontal wheels
-100 Manuf. Glass blowing developed in Syria
-100 Manuf. Trip hammer powered by water invented in China
-46 Agric. Water mills with vertical wheels (Vitruvian mill)
0 Med. Good plumbing keeps Romans healthy
100 Transp. Alcantara Bridge, Spain by Caius Julius Lacer
105 Writ. Writing with ink on paper developed in China
120 Env. Seismograph invented by Zhang Heng in China
350 Transp. Stirrup invented in China
650 Agric. Windmills used in Iran
840 Phot Chêng Shih invents the Camera Obscura
868 Comm. Printing on wooden blocks developed in China
1000 War. Chinese perfect gunpowder
1000 Navig Magnetic Compass invented in China
1000 Manuf. Spinning wheel developed by Chinese silk workers
1150 Agric. Windmill with horizontal windshaft developed in Europe
1280 War. Chinese develop canon
1286 Opt Pisan glassmaker invents spectacles
1346 War. Long Bow developed in Wales
1455 Print. First bible printed in Europe by Gutenberg
1528 War. Grenades developed: earthenware pots with exlosives
1543 Med. First Accurate anatomical drawings by Andreas Vesalius
1586 Struct. Fundamentals of graphic statics published by Simon Stevinus of The Netherlands
1590 Opt. Hans and Zacharias Janssen from the Netherlands develop microscope, later perfected by Anton van Leeuwenhoek
1592 Env. Thermometer devised by Galileo in Italy
1596 Sanit. Flush Toilet invented by Sir John Harrington in England described in his Metamorphosis of Ajax
1608 Astron. Telescope invented by Hans Lippershey in The Netherlands
1620 Transp. Submarine invented by van Drebbel in The Netherlands
1628 Med. William Harvey understands heart beat and blood circulation
1638 Struct. Galileo Galilei presents his explanation of beam action
1660 Light Experiments conducted by Rev. John Clayton  with gas gathered from springs
1665 Glass Colbert attracts Venetian Glass Makers to France
1678 Struct. Robert Hooke publishes his theory of elasticity.
1680 Comm. Dutch Drawbridge developed
1680 Fire Nicholas Barbon establishes the earliest company to offer insurance against fire loss
1689 Min. Blasting produced in English Mines
1692 Transp. Canal du Midi constructed in France connecting the Mediterranean with the Bay of Biscay
1709 BT Coke employed in smelting iron
1709 Manuf. Abraham Darby I in England found a way of making cast iron using coke instead of charcoal
1709 Manuf. Domed Coke Ovens in Shropshire, England Abraham Darby
1710 Music First real Piano created by Bartolomeo Cristofori in Italy
1712 Power Newcomen's "atmospheric engine" to pump water out of mines
1753 Med. Scots physician James Lind suggests limejuice as a way to prevent scurvy
1756 Cement John Smeaton experiments to determine hydraulic cement for the Eddystone Lighthouse
1757 Navig. Sextant developed by John Campbell in England
1757 Struct. Leonhard Euler publishes his papers on the buckling of columns
1763 Navig. John Harrison's No. 4 Chronometer developed
1769 Terracotta Coade factory commences producing terra-cotta in London
1769 Manuf. Mechanical Cotton Spinning invented in England
1769 Manuf. Richard Arkwright in England develops waterpowered spinning wheels
1769 Transp. Nicolas Joseph Gugnot develops a steam-powered car
1769 Power James Watt patents his Separate Condenser
1775 Struct. The engineering program of the Ecole des Ponts et Chausées is reorganised
1775 Sanit. Valve water closet patented by Alexander Cumming in Britain, a London Watchmaker
1776 Struct. Charles Augustin Coulomb states the conditions governing strength of beams
1777 Wood The Circular Saw patented Britain
1778 Sanit. Joseph Bramah patents his improvement on the valve water closet in Britain
1779 Transp. Coalbrookdale Bridge by Abraham Darby III
1781 Steel The relationship of carbon content and the strenght of steel is discovered
1783 Steel The use of rollers to bind lumps of wrought iron introduced by Henry Cort
1783 Transp. Joseph & Jacque Montgolfier brothers ascend in a hot-air balloon
1783 Light A circular burner for Oil Lamps invented by the Swiss Genevois Aimé Argand
1784 Steel Henry Cort produced wrought iron by "puddling"
1785 Food Oliver Evans in US develops new factory process with automated flour milling
1786 Terracotta Clay pots used in roof construction of the Théâtre du Palais Royal, Paris
1793 Fire London Committee of Architects compares materials to control the spread of fire
1795 Manuf. Food preserved in airtight jars by Nicolas Appert in France
1796 Steel Cast-iron beams and columns used in a Shrewsbury mill
1796 Med. Vaccine developed first against smallpox
1796 Med. English Physician Edward Jenner discovers principlle of innoculation
1796 Cement Roman cement patented by James Parker in Britain
1797 Manuf. Henry Maudslay in England develops screw-cutting lathe
1798 Comm. German Alois Senefelder develops lithography
1798 Light Philippe Lebon moves to Paris to develop his "Thermolampe"
1800 Min. Plugs and feathers used in quarrying
1800 Elec. Electric cell battery invented by Alessandro Volta in Italy
1801 Manuf. French weaver J.M. Jacquard developed a loom controlled by punch cards.
1802 Light The Peace of Amiens celebrated by William Murdock's gaslight display at the Boulton and Watt factory, Bermingham
1805 Engin. High pressure steam engine perfected by Richard Trevithick in England
1806 Manuf. Henry Maudslay and Marc Brunel develop machines to mass produce pulleys in Portsmouth
1809 Steel Cast-iron dome covers the courtyard of the Halle aux Blés, Paris
1811 Comm. German Frederick König develops the steam drive printing press
1815 Min. Miner's safety lamp invented by Sir Humphrey Davy in England
1816 Transp. Bicycle invened by Karl von Sauerbronn in Germany
1818 Manuf. American Inventor Thomas Blanchard invents the copying lathe
1820 Accoust. John Blackburn constructs a paraboloid sounding board behind his pulpit
1820 Cement Natural cement discovered in consrtuction of the Erie Canal, patented in US by Canvass White
1824 Cement Portland cement patented by Joseph Aspdin in Britain
1825 Transp. French émigré engineer Marc Brunel constructs tunnel underneath the Thames in London
1827 Phot. First succesful photograph taken by Nicéphore Niépce in France
1829 Manuf. Barthélemy Thimonnier invents the sewing machine
1829 Light Limelight perfected by Thomas Drummond in Britain
1830 Elev. Hoists in mill buildings operated by steam power
1831 Elect. Michael Faraday's experiments with electrcity
1832 BT Balloon Framing introduced in Chicago
1832 Accoust. Benjamin Henry Latrobe's principles of accoustics published in the American edition of the Edinburgh Encyclopedia
1834 Agric. Reaping machine invented in the United States
1834 Aircon. Icemaking machine patented by Jacob Perkins in Britain
1835 Brick Introduction of Brick Machines that extrude shafts of clay to be cut by wires
1835 Steel Construction of the iron fishmarket behind Hungerford Market, London
1836 War. Gun with a revolving bullet chamber -a revolver- invented by Samuel Colt in the United States
1836 Concrete Uses of concrete described in George Godwin's paper at the RIBA
1837 Comm. Electric telegraph printing messages in code developed by Samuel Morse in the United States
1837 Comm. English teacher Isaac Pitman develops shorthand writing
1837 Transp. Isambard Kingdom Brunel designs the first oceanic steam ship The Great Western
1839 Manuf. James Nasmyth develops the steam hammer
1840 Med. Anaesthetics pioneered by Amricans Horace Wells and William Morton leading t pain free surgery
1844 Fire Chemica fire extinguishers introduced
1845 Brick Steam-heated tunnel brick dryers developed
1845 Light J.W. Starr patents his incandescent lamp
1846 Manuf. Singer perfects the sewing machine
1847 Med. Antiseptics developed by the Hungarian Ignaz Semmelweiss for use in childbirth, one of the first doctors to connect disease and hygiene
1847 Accoust. The "isacoustic curve" presented by John Scott Russell in a lecture before the RIBA
1849 Steel Installation of the first cast-iron facades produced by James Bogardus
1849 Domest. Safety pin invented by Walter Hunt in the United States
1850 Wood Circular saw first employed in processing lumber
1850 Brick Initial uses of the tunnel brick kiln
1850 Cloth. Jeans created by Oscar Levi Strauss
1850 Manuf. Overhead conveyor system developed in pig-butchery factories in cincinnati
1851 Steel Crystal Palace, London
1851 Aircon. Dr. John Gorrie patents an air cycle compression ice-making machine in the US
1852 Transp. Frenchman Henri Giffard develops the zeppelin airship
1853 Med. Aspirin invented by Charles von Gerhardt in Germany
1854 Stone Invention of the wire saw for stone
1854 Elev. Elisha Graves Otis demonstrates his safety device at the New York World's Fair
1854 Concrete System for reinforced concrete patented by W.B. Wilkinson in Britain
1855 Steel Henry Bessemer and William Kelly patent processes for the manufacture of steel
1855 Chem. The Bunsen Burner developed by Robert Bunsen in Germany
1856 Manuf. Henry Bessemer pumps air through steel to burn off unwanted carbon making production cheaper
1856 Glass Frederick Siemens regenerative glass furnace, in which waste gasses heat the entering air
1857 Elev. First passenger lift for public use begins operation in the United States
1857 Struct. Theorem for continuous beams published by B.P.E. Clapeyron
1858 Brick Introduction of the Hoffman continuous brick kiln
1858 Cement Systematic testing of Portland Cements for use in construction of the London Drainage System
1859 Steel Three-high rolling mill awarded a patent
1859 Elev. "Vertical Screw Railway" is installed in Fifth Avenue Hotel, NY.
1859 Light Moses G. Farmer lights his home in Salem, Mass.  with an incandescent lamp
1860 Min. Power drils used in quarrying
1860 BT Channeling machine introduced in the US
1860 Med. Louis Pasteur demonstrates the bacterial causes of many diseases.
1860 Transp. Internal Combustion Engine invente by Lenoir in France
1860 Med. Antiseptic used in Surgery developed by Joseph Lister in Scotland
1860 Sanit. The earth closet introduced by Henry Moule and English clergyman
1860 Glass Introduction of continuous tank furnaces
1865 Struct. David Kirkaldy's testing establishment opens
1866 Min & War Dynamite discovered by Alfred Nobel in Sweden
1866 Sanit. New York's Metropolitan Health Laww enacted following a survey of the city's sanitary conditions
1867 Wood Rotary veneer lathe developed
1867 Med. Modern Mercury Thermometer developed
1867 Concrete Joseph Monier patents his system for reinforced concrete in France
1869 Terracotta Chicago Terra Cotta Company organised
1870 Wood Double-edged axe introduced
1870 Terracotta Construction of the Natural History Museum, London revives the use of terra cotta
1870 Food Margering invented by Mège-Mouriès in France
1870 Comm. First truly marketable typewriter made by Malling Hansen in Denmark
1870 War. Winchester reeating rifle
1870 Elev. The water balance elevator introduced by Cyrus W. Baldwin
1870 Light Continuous electrical current provided by the Gramme dynamo
1870 Cement German scientists improve the chemical analysis and processing of cements
1871 Terracotta Terra-cotta floor units patented by Balthasar Kreischer & George H. Johnson
1871 Fire Chicago fire
1871 Cement David O. Saylor obtains patent (US) for production of Portland cement
1873 Concrete Construction of the Ward House, Port Chester, New York
1874 Manuf. Bulk productin of barbed wire invented in the US
1874 Comm. US inventor Christopher Sholes develops the qwerty keyboard layout to slow down typists making the most common letters hardest to hit
1875 Fire Automatic sprinklers offered for sale by Henry S. Parmalee
1875 Concrete Residential construction with concrete panels patented by W.H. Lascelles in Britain
1876 Comm. Telephone invented by Alexander Graham Bell
1876 Light The Jablochkoff arc lamp introduced in Paris
1876 Light First demonstration of Charles Francis Brish's arc lamp in Cleveland Ohio
1877 Comm. Phonograph invented by Thomas Edison in the United States
1877 Concrete Thaddeus Hyatt publishes An Account of Some Experiments with Portland Cement Concrete
1877 Concrete Joseph Monier patents a method of reinforcing concrete beams
1878 Elev. Vertical-cylinder hydraulic elevators introduced by Baldwin in the Boreel building, NY; horizontal cylinder elevators soon follow
1879 Steel Standard shapes for rolled steel established by German Manufacturers
1879 Food Saccharine invented by Constantin Fahlberg in the United States
1879 Light Thomas A. Edison patents his incandescent lamp
1879 Light Joseph Swan exhibits his incandescent lamp before the Newcastle upon Tyne Chemical Society
1880 Wood Saws with raker teeth used in felling
1880 Min. Development of the knox system of blasting in quarries
1880 Food Baked Beans first canned in the United States
1880 Comm. Ballpoint pen developed by John Loud in the United States
1880 Fire Introduction of methods for protection of the metal frameworks of skyscrapers
1882 Struct. Grillage foundations constructed for the Montauk Building, Chicago
1883 Transp. Brooklyn Bridge by John Roebling
1884 Wood Production of thre-ply chair seats in Estonia
1884 Building Construction of the Home Insurance Building by William Lebaron Jenney, Chicago
1884 Power Sir Charles Parsons invents the steam turbine
1884 Concrete Ernest Ransome patents the twisted square bar as the basis of his system
1885 War. Hiram S. Maxim invents the machine gun
1887 Elev. Electric elevator installed in Baltimore, Maryland
1888 Comm. German Emile Berliner invents the Record player
1889 Steel Gallerie des Machines, Paris, employ arches of wrought iron
1889 Transp. First car invented by Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach in Germany
1889 Transp. Pneumatic Tyre invented by Scottish vet John Boyd Dunlop
1889 Aircon. Carnegie Hall, NY provided with an air-cooling system using blocks of ice
1890 Cement Introduction of cement made from blast furnace slag.
1891 Transp. René`Panhard & Emile Levassor begin t build cars and set the model for futre development
1892 Power Rudolf Diesel develops the Diesel engine
1892 Elev. Jesse W. Reno builds an experimental escalator in Brooklyn, NY
1892 Concrete Patents of François Hennebique for his system of reinforced concrete give rise to an international enterprise
1893 Building Chicago regulations limit building heights to ten stories
1893 Clothes Zip fastener invented by Judson in the United States
1893 Struct. Pneumatic Caissons used in constructing foundations for the Manhattan Life Building, N.Y.
1893 Light Commercially practical incandescent matles for gas burners developed by Carl Auer vo Welsbach
1895 Comm. Wireless telegraphy and radio invented by Guglielmo Marconi in Italy
1895 Domest. Safety Razor invented by King Gilette in US
1895 War. Submarine invented by John Holland ordered by US Navy
1895 Light D. McFarlan Moore displays his first vapor lamp
1896 Med. German Physicist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen discovers use of X-rays
1897 Transp. Bersey Electric Cab
1898 Med. Marie Curie separates the element radium
1900 Wood Resawing wood introduced
1900 Accoust. Wallace C. Sabine publishes his acoustical principles
1900 Elev. Escalators of several makes operated at the Paris Exposition
1900 Concrete Flat slab construction developed by C.A.P. Turner and Robert Maillart
1900 Concrete Introduction of construction using precast structural elements
1900 Concrete German, French, and British regulations published for design of reinforced concrete structures
1901 Domest. Vacuum cleaner invented by Booth in England
1902 Glass Machine for drawing glass cylinders patented by John H. Lubbers in the US
1903 Transp. Aeroplane achieving first sustained flight made by Wright Brothers
1903 Elev. Traction elevators introduced by Otis Elevator Company
1903 Concrete Ingalls Building Chincinatti, Ohio, the first skyscraper of reinforced concrete
1903 Concrete Auguste Perret's apartment building at 25b Rue Franklin, Paris
1903 Concrete Housing built in Liverpool using John Brodie's system of precast panels
1904 Aircon. New York Stock Exchange installs a cooling system using ammonia as refrigerant
1905 Wood Softwood plywood displayed at Lewis and Clark Expedition Centennial
1906 Aircon. Willis H. Carrier patents "Apparatus for Treating Air" in the US
1907 Transp. Frenchman Paul Cornu builds the first helicopter
1907 Light Tungsten filament incandescent lamps introduced
1909 Manuf. Bakelite invented by Baekeland in the United States
1910 Concrete "Unit systems" of precast concrete construction introduced by Ernest L. Ransome and John E. Conzelman
1913 Manuf. America engineer Henry Ford prioneers the assembly line
1914 Manuf. Frank & Lillian Gilbreth do efficiency studies on working conditions
1914 Glass Production of sheet glass commences in Belgium
1915 War. Tank with Catrpillar tracks invented by Swinton in England
1918 Concrete Duff Abrams publishes results of his tests on the water -cement ratio in concrete
1920 Elev. Popularity of air cushion safety systems
1922 Concrete Z-D thin-shell dome constructed in Germany for use as a planetarium
1924 Food Freezing food invented by Birdseye in United States
1926 Comm. Television invented by John Logie Baird in Scotland
1927 Comm. First talking picture The Jazz Singer produced by Warner Brothers
1927 Accoust. Construction of Salle Pleyel, Paris according to acoustica design of Gustave Lyon
1928 Med. Alexander Fleming, a scot, discovers penicillin
1928 Aircon. Milam building, San Antonio, Texas, a milestone in air-conditioning office buildings
1928 Aircon. Introduction of the room air conditioner
1930 Transp. Whittle begins first design of Turbojet engine in England
1931 Sc. Ernst Ruska and Max Knoll develop the electron microscope
1931 Elev. Two elevators per shaft installed in the Westinghouse office building, East Pittsburgh, Penn.
1932 Struct. Moment distribution introduced for the design of building frameworks
1933 BT Synthetic resin glues produced in Germany
1934 Transp. Cat's-eyes, reflecting lights in the road, invented by Percy Shaw in England
1934 Transp. Citroën Traction Avant, first car with front wheel drive and a monococque body-shell
1935 Manuf. Polyamide fibres including nylon, invented by W.H. Carothers in US
1935 Comm. AEG Telefunken & IG Farben develop the tape recorder in Germany
1935 Comm. Rudolph Kühnhold in Germany and Robert Watson Watt develop radar
1937 Shop. Supermarket trolleys developed in US
1937 Comm. Radio-telescope developed by Grote Reber in US
1937 Transp. Development of the Volkswagen in Gemany
1938 Comm. Chester Carlson invents the electrostatic copier
1939 Light Planners of the New York World's Fair obtain fluorescent lamps for use in fair buildings
1942 Power Italian Enrico Fermi demonstrates nuclear energy as a potentially limitless and clean source of poer
1944 Calc. Automatic calculator invented by Howard Aiken in the United States
1945 Domest. Microwave Oven invented by Percy Spencer in the United States
1950 Med. Ultra sound used to screen pregant women
1952 Glass Pilkington Brothers Ltd. Begins experiments leading to the float process
1953 Med. James D. Watson & Francis Crick discover the structure of DNA
1953 Med. John Gibbon in the US invens the heart-lung machine
1954 Med. Contraceptive pill developed to aid birth control by Gregory Pincus and John Rock
1955 Power Solar cells developed
1955 Transp. Citroën DS uses hydraulic power for its suspension system.
1957 Space Space Satellite, Sputnik I launched by Soviet Union
1958 Med. Heart Pacemaker developed
1960 Med. Beginnings of laser surgery
1960 Engin. Laser constructed by Theodore Maiman in US
1963 Comm. Dutch company philips introduced audio casettes
1964 Med. Chemotherapy developed to treat cancer
1964 Accoust. Initiation of experiments that lead to the electronic adjustment of the accoustics of the Royal Festival Hall, London
1967 Med. Firs successful heart transplant
1970 Comm. Silicon chip invented in US
1970 Elev. Double-deck arrangement of elevators revived in Time-Life Building, Chicago
1975 Comm. VHS launched by Japanese company JVC
1979 Comm. Compact disk c0-developed by Dutch compan Philips and Japanese company Sony
1979 Comm. Walkman invented by Sony chairman Akio Morita in Japan
1979 Comm. Cellular phone invented in Sweden
1997 Med. Dolly becomes first animal to be cloned