Events from 1280

First mechanical clocks appear in English monasteries - regulating prayer times with gears not sundials

Marco Polo describes 'great serpents' in Yunnan - 10-pace long creatures with jaws to swallow a man, two legs near head with claws, likely crocodiles mistaken for dragons

Marco Polo reports Java's pepper abundance - describes ships loading 6,000 baskets of pepper, Europeans dream of direct access