#e <t>use<d>1048<n>movable type in China<c>China<info>Movable type was in use in China by A.D. 1048, but the invention did not achieve wide application, due to the very large number of ideographs that make up the written Chinese language.
#e <t>use<d>1090<n>water-driven clocks<c>China
#e <t>use<d>1100<n>distillation<c>Italy<ref>Sci Am 98 Jun
// 12th century
#e <t>use<d>1150<n>explosive weapons<c>China
// 13th century
#e <t>inv<d>1280<n>spectacles<c>Italy<info>Alessandro di Spina and Salvino degli Armati linked two lenses with a metal bridge to create the first spectacles.
#e <t>use<d>1300(20)<n>printed paper money<c>Persia
#e <t>use<d>1403<n>metal movable type<c>Korea<info>The Koreans were using metal movable type by A.D. 1403. Non-metal @movable type@movable type in China@ had been in use in China for at least 350 years.
#e <t>inv<n>printing press<d>1456<p>Johann Gutenberg<c>Germany<info>@Johann Gutenberg@@ invented a printing press which worked with movable type.
#e <t>inv<d>1470<n>cypher disk<p>Alberti<info>@Leon Battista Alberti@@ invented the cypher disk, which he described in his book "Trattati in cifra" in 1470. It is composed of two concentric copper disks, each with a ring of 24 letters or numbers. By turning the disks to align two chosen indices, the opposing characters on the inner and outer rings produced a simple substitution cypher. Alberti also invented the polyalphabetic cypher, which is produced by turning the inner wheel every few words, according to some algorithm.<ref>J. Satinover, pg. 93
#e <t>inv<d>1545(2)<n>universal joint<aka>cardan shaft<p>Gerolamo Cardano<info>This device, invented by @Gerolamo Cardano@@, was incorporated into the carriage of @Emperor Charles V@@ in 1548.
#e <t>inv<d>1550(25)<n>autokey<p>Gerolamo Cardano<info>Advancing Alberti's @cypher disk@@, @Gerolamo Cardano@@ invented the autokey, in which the first few letters of the plaintext provide the rules for how often and how far the inner wheel is turned when decoding a polyalphabetic cypher. This is essentially the method used by the German @Enigma machine@@ in the Second World War.<ref>J. Satinover, pg. 95
#e <t>inv<d>1550(25)<n>Cardano grille<p>Gerolamo Cardano<info>@Gerolamo Cardano@@ invented the Cardano grille. This is a punched card which reveals selected letters of a cyphertext message placed beneath it. The revealed letters are the plaintext, and they are "hidden in plain sight" among other characters to create the cypher. Ideally, the cyphertext itself is also a meaningful, plausible message, to disguise the fact that a hidden message is actually there too.<ref>J. Satinover, pg. 96
#e <t>inv<t>food<d>1559<n>ice cream<c>Italy
// 17th century
#e <t>inv<t>astro<p>Hans Lippershey<n>the refracting telescope<d>1608 Oct 2<info>Application for patent was made by @Hans Lippershey@@ on this date.
#p <nat>Scottish<o>inventor<n>John Wilkinson<b>1728<d>1808 Jul 14<info>John Wilkinson was an ironmaster who invented the modern-type cupola, a blast furnace, used for remelting pig iron, that made possible the establishment of foundries far from the production site. His invention of a machine for boring the barrels of cannons with great accuracy was instrumental in the development of @James Watt@@'s steam engines. One of Watt's earliest successful engines was designed to blast air into Wilkinson's furnaces. Wilkinson's introduction of steam power revolutionised the iron industry.<ref>Grolier
#p <nat>English<o>inventor<n>Josiah Wedgewood<b>1730 Jul 12<d>1795 Jan 3<c>Staffordshire<info>Josiah Wedgwood was the most important figure in British ceramic history. In 1754 he became the partner of Thomas Whieldon, a leading Staffordshire potter. He set up his own works in Burslem in 1759. At first he worked to improve the cream-colored earthenware body (called creamware) that, in varying quality, had been in use by Staffordshire potters for about 10 to 15 years. After 1765, Wedgwood was permitted to name his creamware "Queen's ware," after furnishing tableware to Queen Charlotte, the consort of @George III@@. On the strength of his successes, in 1766 Wedgwood built a new factory specifically to make ornamental wares in the neoclassic revival style. The aesthetic value of Wedgwood's pottery as part of the classical revival somewhat overshadows his important contributions to engineering and science. He was, for example, the inventor of the pyrometer, which measures high temperatures, and was the first industrialist to install, in 1782, a steam engine in his factory. In 1783 he became a fellow of the Royal Society. His eldest daughter married the son of @Erasmus Darwin@@ and became the mother of @Charles Darwin@@.<ref>Grolier
#p <nat>British<o>inventor<n>Charles Babbage<b>1792 Dec 26<d>1871 Oct 18<c><info>In 1827 Charles Babbage became a professor of Mathematics at Cambridge. The computation of logarithms had made him aware of the drudgery and inaccuracy of human calculation, and he became so obsessed with the mechanisation of computation that he spent his family fortune in pursuit of it. Although Babbage never built an operational, mechanical computer, his design concepts have been proven correct.<ref>Grolier
#e <t>inv<d>1733<n>achromatic lens<c>Essex<info>The achromatic lens, which uses compound layers of different materials to cancel or minimise dispersive effects, was invented by Chester Moor Hall.
#e <t>inv<t>phys<d>1746<n>Leyden Jar<c>Leiden<info>The earliest form of capacitor was the Leyden jar. It is named for the University of Leyden (Leiden). The earliest Leyden jar was a glass vial, partially filled with water and stoppered with a cork that was pierced with a wire or nail that dipped into the water. Later ones were essentially a glass jar with inside and outside layers of metal foil. Modern capacitors are less cumbersome, but work by the same principle.<ref>Grolier
#e <t>inv<d>1749<n>lightning rod<p>Benjamin Franklin<info>In 1749, Benjamin Franklin first suggested the use of lightning rods for the protection of buildings and barns.
#e <t>inv<d>1774<n>cannon-boring machine<p>John Wilkinson<info>@John Wilkinson@@ invented a machine for boring the barrels of cannons with great accuracy. It was instrumental in the development of @James Watt@@'s newly invented steam engines, whose cylinders required a degree of precision that could be achieved only with Wilkinson's device. In spite of bad Anglo-French relations at the time, he smuggled the invention across the English Channel. The French used it to make cannon which they shipped to the English colonies in America.<ref>Grolier
