-
Period: 3000 BCE to Dec 31, 1400
3000 BCE to 1400 CE
-
2700 BCE
Tea
The Chinese have been drinking tea since at least 2700 BCE. For several thousands years , tea made by letting tea leaves steep in boiling water was drunk mostly as medicine. -
1250 BCE
Rocket
Rocket technology was developed in China during the Song dynasty. They were powered by a black powder made of saltpeter, charcoal and sulfur -
850 BCE
Gunpowder
It was accidentally discovered by alchemists working with saltpeter looking for the secret to eternal life. -
700 BCE
Mechanical Clock
The Chinese developed the first mechanical clock in about the 8th century. The new clock was more accurate than earlier timekeeping devices, such as sundials and hourglasses. -
650 BCE
Printing
The invention of paper made another key development possible: printing. In about the 7th century. The Chinese invented a technique called woodblock printing. -
206 BCE
Magnetic Compass
The compass is a magnetized needle that aligns itself with Earth's magnetic poles so that one end points north and the other south. -
200 BCE
Steel
The Chinese first made steel, a very useful metal, before 200 BCE. Steel is made from iron, but it is less brittle than iron and easier to bend into different shapes -
100 BCE
Paper
The Chinese invented the art of paper-making by the second century C.E. The earliest Chinese paper was probably made from hemp and then the bark of the mulberry tree -
50 BCE
Porcelain
Another Chinese invention is a type of fine pottery called porcelain. Some historians think that the Chinese produced the first porcelain as early as the 1st century CE.
