Images 1

Inventions of the Renaissance

  • The Spinning Wheel
    Jan 1, 1200

    The Spinning Wheel

    The spinning wheel was most likely invented in India in the early 1200s, and was brought to Europe by Middle Eastern traders. It replaced the earlier method of hand spinning, which was much harder and took a lot longer.
  • Eyeglasses
    Jan 1, 1290

    Eyeglasses

    Glasses came about in the late 13th century. By the time the Gutenberg printing press was invented in 1456, most people with sight problems had glasses
  • Clocks
    Jan 1, 1300

    Clocks

    Clocks allowed people to tell the time correctly. Clocks were invented in the early 1300s
  • Gunpowder
    Jan 1, 1346

    Gunpowder

    Gunpowder was actually invented in 850 AD by the Chinese. But it came around in Europe during the Battle of Crécy in 1346.
  • Printing Press
    Jan 1, 1436

    Printing Press

    Printing Press- The printing press was invented in 1436 by Johannes Gutenberg. The printing press made books more widely available to the public.
  • Wallpaper
    Jan 1, 1496

    Wallpaper

    Wallpaper was invented when the first paper mill came into England in 1496. For the next 200 years England was a large producer of wallpaper for Europe.
  • Flush Toilet

    Flush Toilet

    The first flush toilet was invented in 1596 by John Harrington. It was later reinvented two hundred years later by Alexander Cummings.
  • Microscope and Telescope lenses

    Microscope and Telescope lenses

    The first useful microscope was invented in the Netherlands somewhere between 1590 and 1608. In 1668 Isaac Newton made what is closest to the telescopes we have today, by adding mirrors instead of lenses.
  • Artillery

    Artillery

    To improve the accuracy of rockets, an engineer named William Congreve made launching tubes. The ‘howitzer’, invented in the 17th century, was an artillery machine that was used to hit targets at steep angles.
  • Submarine

    Submarine

    The first submarine invented by Leonard de Vinci, however, he never told anyone because they would have been used for war. Later, in 1620, a working submarine was made by Cornelius Drebbel, even though it could only go underwater for a couple of hours.