Measurement of Time:

Sundial and water clock was the first instrument discovered to measure time in about 1500 B.C. In the sundial the cast the shadow on the digits and gives the indication of time. In the water clock, water from one container falls drop by drop into another container. The container has an hour scales by which time is measure. The first mechanical wall clock was developed in 1808 in China. It was 10 meter s high and was run by water power. The first mechanical clock in the Europe was made in 1200. The first clock was made in Spain in 1276. The oldest mechanical clock which is still working is in the Salisbury Cathedrql. It was made in 1368. Glass Manufacturing: Glass was first made by melting soda and sand in about 3000 B.C. in Syria and its neighboring countries. Glass blowing was also invented in Syria in about 100 B.C. First Balance: The first weighting balance was developed in Syria and its neighboring countries between 4000 to 5000 B.C. This balance was used to weigh gold. Stone weights were used to measure weight. These were cut in the shape of animals. Gunpowder: Gun powder was probably was made in china or India by mixing Sulphur, Charcoal and Saltpetre. Around 850 A.D , gun powder was used by the Chinese for making fireworks explosives. Gun powder came in use during the 13th century in Europe. The Credit of inventing gun powder in Europe goes to an English monk named Roger Bacon. Invention of Spectacles: Impaired sight has always been a challenge to the scientists. As long ago as the year 1000, an Arab scientist Alhazen demonstrated the action of image formation by lenses. He also told that people who had weak eyesight could see properly with help of lenses. During the 1200, Roger Bacon made a pair of rudimentary spectacles. By 1430, Italian developed spectacles to view the distance object clearly. Bifocal lenses were invented in 18th century by American statesman Benjamin Franklin. Production of Petrol: Oil was extracted by drilling in the USA for the first time in 1841 and the oil well was made in 1859. Petrol was obtained from crude oil in 1864. Petrol had not much utility before the invention of motor car. After the invention of the motor car in 1883, the first petrol station of opened in France in 1895 in the USA. In 1870, Standard Oil Company the biggest in the word of that time, was established. In 1890, the high quality petrol production started. Steam Engine: The first successful steam engine was made in 1712 by British engineer Thomas Newcomen. It was used to draw water out if the mines. James Watt modified the Newcomen engine. In 1765, he made if new type of steam engine which was more powerful and fast. Steam engine of Watt were used for the first time in 1785 to run cotton mills. These steam engines proved very useful in the industrial development. In the 19th century, the steam engines came to be widely used in road and water vehicles. In 1803, the locomotive was invented in Britain. The first successful rail engine was made by George Stephenson in 1814. Spinning Machines: Spinning machine was invented in 1700 in Britain, Before this yarn was made either by hand or by Charkha. The first spinning machine was Spinning Jenny invented by James Hargreaves in 1764. It was hand-operated machine. This could spin very thin yarn. Another spinning machine was Arkweights Water Frames which was made in 1769. Samuel Crompton combined both these machines and made a new machine names spinning mule which marked the beginning of the textile industry. The first automatic spinning machine was made in 1801 in France. This was known as Loom and was capable of creating designs of silk clothes. It was invented by Joseph Marie Jacquard. It used a set of punched cards for creating new patterns. Now a day's computers have replaced punched cards. Sewing Machine: The first sewing machine was made in 1830 in France by Barthelemy Thimmonier. This was able to put 200 stiches in one minute. The first successful sewing machine was made by Elias Howe of USA in 1845. Issac Singer of USA gave the modern shape to the sewing machines in 1851. Harvesting Machine: Harvesting Machine are of two types: one for cutting the crops and the other for separating grains and fodder. The first threshing machine was developed in Britain in 1786 by Andrew Meikle. The fist reaping machine was also invented in Britain in 1826 by Patrick Bell. The first harvesting machine was made in USA in 1831 by Cyrus McCromick. The maximum development work on harvesting machines has been done in the USA. Today these machines are being widely used all over the world. Invention of Electric Motor: The fist electric motor was invented by Michael Faraday in 1821. This was only an experimental motor. The first successful dynamo was made in Belgium in 1870 by Zenobe Theophile Gramme. After this, the first practical electric motor was made was invented by Nikola Tesla in 1888 in the United States of America. Electric Light: Electric light for the first time was produced by an electric arc by Humphry Davy in Britain in 1802. First successful electric bulb was made by the famous inventor Thomas Alva Edison. Wire filament bulbs came into existence only in 1898. Artificial Dye: The fist artificial dye was made in 1856 by the British scientist William Perkin. Prior to this, all dyes were made from insects and plants. Different artificial dyes have been made only after the invention of Perkin. Invention of X-rays: X-rays were invented by the German physicist Wilhelm Roentgen in 1895. These rays were invented accidently while he was doing some experiments on Cathode rays. Today, X-rays are not only used to locate dislocations and fractures of bones but also in industries. Roentgen named them X-rays because these were not known at that time (X-means unknown). Roentgen was given the first Nobel Prize in 1901 in Physics for the invention of X-rays. Invention of Plastic: Plastic was invented for the first time by the British scientist Alexander Parkes. This was called Parkensine and was made with cellulose and camphor. An American inventor John Hyatt made similar plastic in 1868 which was named as celluloid. The first plastic made of chemicals was Backelite which was invented by Leo Backeland of Bengium in 1907. First Telephone: The telephone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell of USA in 1876. The telephone was first used in 1877 in Boston and first public call box was made in Connecticut in 1880. The first automatic telephone was opened in 1892 at LaPorte of Indiana. The automatic telephone exchange came to be used in Europe in 1909. Beginning of Radio Broadcasting: Radio waves were discovered in 1887 by Heinrich Hert of Germany. The first signal in Morse Code was transmitted by Gulielmo Marconi of Italy in 1895. The first radio broadcast with music and talk was done by Canadian Reginald Fessnden on December 24,1906 in USA. The first radio station was established in New York in 1907. Invention of Television: The first television signal was transmitted by British inventor John Logie Baird in 1924. The electronic system was different from the one being used today . The electronic television was developed in USA by Philo Farnworht. Zworkykin in achieved a great success in 1930 in developing the electronic television. Nuclear Power: Nuclear energy was first produced in 1942 by the famous Italian scientist Enrico Fremi in USA. He made the first successful nuclear reactor in Chicago. In this reactor Uranium was used as fuel. These day such rectors are used for electric power generation. First Computer: The first computer called Colossus was developed in Britain in 1943 this could quickly decode the codes of war. The first successful computer was made in USA in 1946. It was called ENIAC. About 19,000 valves and several thousand other electronic components were used in it. It was of the size of a big room. Invention of Robot: The first robots that could work like human being were made in Europe around 1700. These were used as toys. Pierre Jacquet-Droz robot in 1770 which could write any message of 40 letters with its hand. Industrial robots were developed in 1960s. These are being used in factories for operating machines, welding, painting etc. Invention of Laser: The principle of laser action was given in 1951 by the US scientist Charles H. Townes. H invented laser in 1953. Laser was made T.H. Maiman of USA 1960. It was a ruby laser and it was far more bright than the sun.