Inventions

Middle Age Inventions by Tristan Lobenthal

The Middle Age inventions were either made of wood, steel, copper, silk, rocks, ink, or oil. Some of the famous inventions were the printing press, hourglass, liquor, mechanical clock, eyeglasses, and quarantine. The printing press was first mentioned in 1439 in a lawsuit. It became mechanized in Europe. A movable type, as well as paper, first appeared in China. It was modeled after the wine-and-olive press. It reigned for more than 300 years printing about 250 sheets per hour on one side. The hourglass was used as far back as the 11th century. It was used to tell time at sea, in church, in industry, and for cooking. Magellan kept 18 hourglasses per ship to tell time. It was the job of the ship’s page (attendant) to turn the hourglasses. Liquor came from Babylonia in 4th millennium B.C. Muslim alchemists in 8th or 9th centuries invented cooled collectors so they could avoid the freezing process. The oldest mechanical clock is in England at Salisbury Cathedral, which dates from 1386. Mechanical clocks may have been invented to toll a bell that called monks to prayers. The early clocks struck only the hours and did not have hands or a dial. Roger Bacon made the earliest record of eyeglasses in 1268. It is unclear whether the use of eyeglasses began in Europe or China since they were being used in both countries around the same time. The earliest glasses treated farsightedness. The first evidence of eyeglasses to treat nearsightedness was in 1517. The quarantine was created in the 14th century from the growth of trade and from the plague that was introduced by ships. The ships were to be isolated for a period of time to get rid of infections that may be on board. This is the oldest surviving clock at the Salisbury Cathedral church in England, and created in 1386. This is the famouos Printing Press of Gutenberg, made in the 15th century, it was able to print 250 pages per hour. http://listverse.com/history/top-10-inventions-of-the-middle-ages/