istoryworld
Events relating to technology
Su Sung, a Buddhist monk, develops in China the principle of the escapement in his tower clock worked by a water wheel
Construction begins on London Bridge, the first stone bridge to be built across a tidal waterway
The Chinese develop a feature of great significance in the history of seafaring - a sternpost rudder which is an integral part of the ship
The first mention of a lens occurs in a manuscript by Roger Bacon, to be soon followed by the invention of spectacles
A great clock is completed in Padua, regulated mechanically by foliot and escapement
Koreans establish the first type foundry, casting movable type in bronze
With the development of clocks, the hour becomes a fixed period of time - one twenty-fourth part of the day
A clock, designed only to strike the hours, is installed in Salisbury cathedral and is still working today
Construction begins on a canal from Lübeck south to the Elbe, linking the Baltic and the North Sea
The keyboard of the organ is adapted in Germany to strings, thus providing the harpsichord - first mentioned in a manuscript of this year
Glazed windows become a feature of the richer homes of northern Europe
Packs of tarot playing cards are among the most popular products of Europe's first printing presses
The oldest surviving spring mechanism (enabling clocks to become small and portable) is put to work
Master ES becomes the first artist to produce engravings
A copy of Europe's first book printed from movable type, the Gutenberg Bible, is completed in Mainz
Albrecht Pfister publishes the first book with printed illustrations - Der Ackermann aus Böhmen ('The farmer of Bohemia')
The first Italian printing press is set up in Venice, which soon rivals Germany for the quality of its printing
Caxton establishes the first English printing press in London, after working in the new trade in Bruges
Ptolemy's concept of the world, with the Atlantic stretching to China and India, is printed in Bologna – fifteen years before Columbus sails west
The world's first globe is published by Martin Behaim without showing America, in the very year of Columbus' voyage
The Nuremberg Chronicle integrates text and pictures in an ambitious history of the world
Dürer, the first great artist to tackle the complexities of printing, becomes a master of woodcut and engraving
The type faces known as roman and italic are created in Venice by the printers Nicolas Jenson and Aldus Manutius
The first etchings are printed in Augsburg, from iron plates
The first watches, made in Nuremberg, are spherical clocks about three inches in diameter, worn usually on a ribbon round the neck
