Test your basic knowledge |

Timeline Of Historic Inventions

Subjects : trivia, history
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. Lateen sail in Roman Empire






2. Brace in Flandres - Holy Roman Empire






3. Mariner's compass (wet compass) in Ancient China - The earliest recorded use of magnetized needle for navigational purposes at sea is found in Zhu Yu's book Pingzhou Table Talks of 1119 (written from 1111 to 1117). The typical Chinese navigational co






4. Thomas Newcomen builds the first steam engine to pump water out of mines. Newcomen's engine - unlike Thomas Savery's - used a piston.






5. Three-masted ship (mizzen - on Syracusia) under Hiero II of Syracuse - Sicily






6. Co-creation of the integrated circuit by Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce.






7. Glue in Italy






8. Bow






9. Pigments in Zambia






10. First use of nuclear power to produce electricity for households in Arco - Idaho






11. Rebreather - Henry Fleuss was granted a patent for the first practical rebreather






12. The pattern-tracing lathe (actually more like a shaper) is completed by Thomas Blanchard for the U.S. Ordnance Dept. The lathe could copy symmetrical shapes and was used for making gun stocks - and later - ax handles. The lathe's patent was in force






13. Brace in Flandres - Holy Roman Empire






14. Railway steam locomotive - Richard Trevithick






15. Buttress dam in Roman Empire






16. Anders Celsius develops the Centigrade temperature scale.






17. Mechanization of papermaking (paper mill) in X






18. Jacquard loom (loom controlled by punched card) - Joseph Marie Jacquard






19. Stephen Hales takes measurements of blood pressure.






20. Sakia gear in Hellenistic Egypt






21. S






22. Cast iron in Ancient China - Confirmed by archaeological evidence - the earliest cast iron was developed in China by the early 5th century BC during the Zhou Dynasty (1122






23. Friction Match - John Walker






24. Numerical zero in Ancient India - The concept of zero as a number - and not merely a symbol for separation is attributed toIndia. In India - practical calculations were carried out using zero - which was treated like any other number by the 9th centu






25. Waterway connecting two seas (Ancient Suez Canal) by Greek engineers under Ptolemy II (283






26. Double-entry bookkeeping system codified by Luca Pacioli






27. Friction Match - John Walker






28. Segmental arch bridge (e.g. Pont-Saint-Martin or Ponte San Lorenzo) in Italy - Roman Republic






29. Floating crane in Rhineland - Holy Roman Empire






30. Sakia gear in Hellenistic Egypt






31. Gunpowder in Ancient China - Gunpowder was - according to prevailing academic consensus - discovered in the 9th century by Chinese alchemists searching for an elixir of immortality. Evidence of gunpowder's first use in China comes from the Five Dynas






32. Crankshaft in Augusta Raurica - Roman Empire






33. A CD-ROM (an acronym of 'Compact Disc Read-only memory') is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to - but not writable by - a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985






34. Watermill (grain mill) by Greek engineers in Eastern Mediterranean (see also List of ancient watermills)






35. Spears in Germany






36. Arch dam (Glanum Dam) in Gallia Narbonensis - Roman Republic (see also List of Roman dams)






37. Mariner's compass (wet compass) in Ancient China - The earliest recorded use of magnetized needle for navigational purposes at sea is found in Zhu Yu's book Pingzhou Table Talks of 1119 (written from 1111 to 1117). The typical Chinese navigational co






38. James Hargreaves invented the spinning jenny.






39. Fore-and-aft rig (spritsail) in Ancient Greece






40. Banknote in Tang Dynasty China - The banknote was first developed in China during the Tang and Song dynasties - starting in the 7th century. Its roots were in merchant receipts of deposit during the Tang Dynasty (618






41. DVD is an optical disc storage format - invented and developed by Philips - Sony - Toshiba - and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions.






42. Jacquard loom (loom controlled by punched card) - Joseph Marie Jacquard






43. Crank and connecting rod (Hierapolis sawmill) in Asia Minor - Roman Empire






44. Shelter construction






45. Catapult in Ancient Greece (incl. Sicily)






46. Movable type in Ancient China - The first record of a movable type system is in the Dream Pool Essays written in 1088 - which attributed the invention of the movable type to Bi Sheng. In the 15th century - Johannes Gutenberg independently invented th






47. Canal lock (possibly pound lock) in Ancient Suez Canal under Ptolemy II (283






48. High pressure steam engine - Richard Trevithick and Oliver Evans - independently






49. Morphine in Paderborn - Germany - Morphine was discovered as the first active alkaloid extracted from the opium poppy plant in December 1804 by Friedrich Sert






50. Arc lamp - Humphry Davy (exact date unclear; not practical as a light source until generators)