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2700 BCE
Tea
The Chinese invented tea for use of medicine. They made it by letting tea leaves steep in boiling water. -
850 BCE
Gunpowder
An explosive consisting of a powdered mixture of saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal. Chinese alchemists accidentally discovered gunpowder. They tried mixtures and eventually did this and started using gunpowder in daily life -
200 BCE
Steel
Steel was made with iron, but is less brittle than iron. They used cast iron because cast iron caused a chemical reaction to make steel -
100 BCE
Paper
The Chinese invented paper for art using hemp, bark, and then rags -
50 BCE
Poreclain
Porcelain is clay, minerals, quartz, and feldspar. Porcelain was used for decoration. It was a prized item. -
618
Segmental Arch bridge
Regular bridges took much more material to build, so the Chinese took a segment out of the bridge to use less material in shape of a semi circle -
750
Printing
They invented printing by putting ink on a table then putting paper down. Then, they had a rolling pin with letters sticking out of it, so the ink would press on the paper when rolled and the letters would print -
919
Flame thrower
The Chinese made the first weapon that used gunpowder. Early flame throwers contained gunpowder mixed with oil. They used this to spray enemies with fire -
983
Canal lock
The Chinese invented the canal lock to improve the convenience of transportation using boats for everyday life.
