43 events with tag "innovation"
1050 BC
ID: 3644
Phoenician alphabet spreads - simplified 22-letter system replaces complex scripts, ancestor of modern alphabets
ID: 3644
371 BC
ID: 281
Battle of Leuctra - Thebes defeats Sparta using oblique phalanx, ends Spartan hegemony forever
ID: 281
300 BC
ID: 5384
Celts invent chainmail - revolutionary armor technology later adopted by Romans, made from 20,000+ iron rings
ID: 5384
260 BC
ID: 2661
Battle of Mylae - Romans use corvus (boarding bridge) to turn sea battle into land battle, first naval victory
ID: 2661
50
ID: 5430
Glass wine bottles appear - Romans develop glass-blowing, create first wine bottles though amphorae remain standard
ID: 5430
100
ID: 5346
Mining technology innovations - Romans perfect water-powered ore crushing, advanced ventilation, and deep shaft mining
ID: 5346
896
ID: 2557
Alfred builds first English navy - designs new warships twice size of Viking longships, defeats Danish fleet
ID: 2557
1140
ID: 188
Abbot Suger begins rebuilding St. Denis - invents Gothic architecture, 'theology of light'
ID: 188
1173
ID: 5277
Death of Raimbaut d'Aurenga - innovative troubadour who pushed boundaries of form, combined trobar clus and trobar leu styles
ID: 5277
1175
ID: 224
Three-field system spreading across Europe - increases agricultural productivity by 50%
ID: 224
1180
ID: 5845
Mining innovations at Freiberg - water-wheel drainage systems enable deeper mining, output surpasses Rammelsberg
ID: 5845
1265
ID: 2403
January 20, 1265
First elected Parliament - Simon de Montfort summons knights and burgesses, foundation of House of Commons
ID: 2403
1368
ID: 4802
Hawkwood perfects false retreat - adapts Crecy tactics to Italy, mounted archers dismount to fight
ID: 4802
1370
ID: 4799
Hawkwood revolutionizes warfare - introduces English tactics, year-round campaigning, intelligence networks
ID: 4799
1410
ID: 98
Jan van Eyck perfects oil painting technique - achieving unprecedented realism, light seems to emanate from within
ID: 98
1439
ID: 102
Gutenberg begins experiments with movable type - combining wine press, metallurgy, and oil-based ink
ID: 102
1474
ID: 2178
Venice passes first patent statute - granting exclusive rights to inventors for 10 years, birth of intellectual property law
ID: 2178
1527
ID: 5479
Paracelsus introduces use of chemical remedies including mercury, sulfur, iron and arsenic in medicine, revolutionizing pharmacology
ID: 5479
1602
ID: 2198
Dutch East India Company (VOC) established - first publicly traded company with permanent capital and transferable shares
ID: 2198
1787
ID: 2323
French Royal Edict allows sociΓ©tΓ© en commandite par actions - limited partnership with tradeable shares, hybrid of partnership and corporation
ID: 2323
1900
ID: 4221
Hollerith develops automatic card-feed mechanism and automatic sorting box - major improvements to tabulating system
ID: 4221
1906
ID: 4222
Hollerith introduces Type I Tabulator with plug-board wiring for flexible programming of tabulation tasks
ID: 4222
1906
ID: 4275
Royal Typewriter Company founded - introduces innovations like lighter touch and quieter operation
ID: 4275
1914
ID: 4281
IBM introduces first successful electric typewriter - adds motor to power type bars
ID: 4281
1915
ID: 4283
Suspension filing systems introduced - hanging folders on rails eliminate need for folder compression
ID: 4283
1919
ID: 4287
Underwood introduces first successful portable typewriter - weighs only 10 pounds
ID: 4287
1920
ID: 4228
C-T-R introduces printing tabulator to compete with Powers machines - can print results directly on paper
ID: 4228
1925
ID: 1333
Television technology demonstrated
ID: 1333
1928
ID: 4249
Remington Rand introduces 90-column punch card to compete with IBM's 80-column standard - not widely adopted
ID: 4249
1930
ID: 4250
Remington Rand develops line of accounting machines and calculators to compete with IBM in business market
ID: 4250
1931
ID: 4234
IBM introduces Type 600 series multiplying punch - first machine to perform multiplication automatically
ID: 4234
1933
ID: 4235
IBM introduces Type 285 Printing Tabulator and Type 401 Alphabetical Accounting Machine
ID: 4235
1935
ID: 1432
First radar systems developed
ID: 1432
1936
ID: 4237
IBM introduces Type 601 Multiplying Punch with relay-based calculation - 100 cards per minute
ID: 4237
1944
ID: 4241
August 1944
IBM completes Harvard Mark I (ASCC) - 51 feet long, uses punch cards for input, bridges mechanical and electronic computing
ID: 4241
1954
ID: 4262
Remington Rand announces UNIVAC II with magnetic core memory replacing mercury delay lines - major performance improvement
ID: 4262
1996
ID: 3017
Fiber cement siding (HardiePlank) becomes widely available
ID: 3017
1997
ID: 3022
Bear Stearns creates first Credit Default Swap (CDS)
ID: 3022
2002
ID: 3079
Photocatalytic concrete (self-cleaning concrete) first commercialized using titanium dioxide
ID: 3079
2008
ID: 3163
Smart glass (electrochromic windows) becomes commercially available for buildings
ID: 3163
2013
ID: 3253
Self-healing concrete using bacteria becomes commercially available
ID: 3253
2015
ID: 3283
Transparent wood composites begin limited commercial production
ID: 3283
2024
ID: 3404
Living building materials using engineered bacteria enter commercial production
ID: 3404