History of mechanics and machines
100 inventions by year: what each evolved from and what it led to.
How the inventions are connected
| Year | Invention | What it is | Evolved from | Led to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3300000 BC | Stone tool | The oldest tools, made of knapped stone. | Needle, Sickle, Hammer, Knife | |
| 2500000 BC | Knife | A blade with a handle; the oldest cutting tool. | Stone tool | Scalpel |
| 1760000 BC | Hand axe | A bifacially worked stone tool of the Acheulean culture. | Axe | |
| 30000 BC | Hammer | A striking tool. | Stone tool | Trip hammer, Steam hammer |
| 28000 BC | Rope | Twisted fibres that work in tension. | Wire rope, Climbing rope | |
| 8000 BC | Bow drill | A drill turned by a bowstring; also used to make fire. | Electric drill | |
| 6000 BC | Axe | A wedge-shaped blade on a haft for chopping wood. | Hand axe | |
| 3500 BC | Wheel | A disc that turns on an axle; one of the oldest inventions for moving loads. | ||
| 3500 BC | Axle | A rod on which a wheel turns. | ||
| 3000 BC | Saw | A tool with a toothed blade. | Chainsaw | |
| 3000 BC | Chisel | A tool for removing material by striking or pushing. | ||
| 1500 BC | Pliers | Two lever jaws on a pivot. | ||
| 1300 BC | Lathe | A machine that shapes a rotating workpiece with a cutting tool. | Screw-cutting lathe | |
| 1200 BC | File | A steel bar with cut teeth for filing. | ||
| 800 BC | Pulley | A grooved wheel for a rope; changes the direction of force. | ||
| 700 BC | Lock and key | A mechanical locking device. | Smart lock | |
| 700 BC | Pin tumbler lock | Pins lined up by a key; the idea dates back to Egypt, the modern one to Yale, 1861. | ||
| 500 BC | Windlass | A drum with a handle for winding rope. | ||
| 500 BC | Padlock | A portable lock with a shackle. | ||
| 300 BC | Gear | A toothed wheel that transmits rotation and changes speed and torque. | ||
| 250 BC | Valve | A device that lets flow pass in one direction or shuts it off. | ||
| 250 BC | Piston pump | Ctesibius’s pump: a piston draws in and pushes out liquid. | Watt steam engine, Vacuum pump | |
| 250 BC | Screw | A simple machine: an inclined plane wrapped around a cylinder; turns rotation into linear motion. | Inclined plane | Screw thread |
| 250 BC | Check valve | A valve that lets flow pass in one direction only. | ||
| 250 BC | Screw thread | A helical ridge on a rod or in a hole. | Screw | |
| 250 BC | Cylinder | A hollow chamber in which a piston moves. | ||
| 250 BC | Auger | A screw conveyor for loose and viscous materials. | Archimedes’ screw | |
| 250 BC | Block and tackle | A system of pulleys that multiplies force. | ||
| 200 BC | Cam | A projection on a shaft that turns rotation into pushes. | ||
| 200 BC | Trip hammer | A hammer lifted by a cam on a water wheel. | Hammer | Steam hammer |
| 200 BC | Worm gear | A screw-like worm turns a gear wheel at a right angle. | ||
| 100 BC | Belt drive | Transmitting rotation by a belt between pulleys. | ||
| 100 BC | Screw press | A press in which a screw produces the force; used to press grapes and olives. | ||
| 100 BC | Ratchet | A toothed wheel with a pawl — rotation in one direction. | ||
| 100 BC | Rack and pinion | A gear on a toothed rack: rotation ↔ linear motion. | ||
| 250 | Hierapolis sawmill | The oldest known machine with a crank and connecting rod. | Sawmill | |
| 250 | South-pointing chariot | A Chinese cart with a differential gear that keeps its figure pointing one way. | ||
| 850 | Pinned cylinder | A cylinder with pins — the carrier of the “program” of musical automata (described by the Banū Mūsā brothers). | Bouchon’s loom | |
| 1200 | Camshaft | A shaft with cams that drives valves or hammers. | ||
| 1200 | Sawmill | Mechanical sawing of logs. | Hierapolis sawmill | |
| 1206 | Crank | A lever on an axle that turns reciprocating motion into rotation and back. Described by al-Jazari. | Starter motor | |
| 1300 | Mechanical clock | A clock with a weight or spring, an escapement and a gear train. | Water clock (clepsydra) | Pendulum clock, Quartz clock |
| 1300 | Escapement | A mechanism that releases the stored energy in small portions and sets the pace of a clock. | ||
| 1400 | Spring | An elastic element that stores mechanical energy. | ||
| 1400 | Balance wheel | An oscillating wheel with a hairspring — the “pendulum” of portable timepieces. | ||
| 1400 | Bolt and nut | A threaded fastening. | ||
| 1430 | Mainspring | A spiral spring that stores a clock’s winding energy. | ||
| 1500 | Screwdriver | A tool for driving screws. | ||
| 1500 | Vice | A clamping device with a screw. | ||
| 1510 | Pocket watch | A portable spring-driven watch; early examples are linked to Peter Henlein. | Marine chronometer, Wristwatch | |
| 1545 | Universal joint | A joint that transmits rotation between shafts at an angle (Cardano, Hooke). | CV joint | |
| 1650 | Fire pump | A hand-operated piston pump for fighting fires. | Fire truck | |
| 1657 | Anchor escapement | An escapement with an anchor that made clocks more accurate. | ||
| 1679 | Safety valve | Releases excess pressure (Papin). | ||
| 1689 | Centrifugal pump | A pump in which liquid is accelerated by a spinning wheel. | ||
| 1689 | Impeller | The rotating bladed wheel of a pump or compressor. | ||
| 1700 | Barrel organ | A mechanical organ with a pinned cylinder. | Player piano | |
| 1738 | Automaton | A mechanical figure that performs set movements; Vaucanson’s automata. | Jacquard loom | |
| 1760 | Industrial Revolution | The shift to machine production. | ||
| 1771 | Factory | Production with machines under one roof (Cromford). | ||
| 1781 | Planetary gear | Planet gears around a central sun gear; Watt used a “sun and planet” gear. | ||
| 1785 | Bucket elevator | Buckets on a belt or chain lift bulk goods (Evans). | ||
| 1795 | Hydraulic cylinder | A piston in a cylinder moved by pressurized liquid. | ||
| 1795 | Conveyor belt | An endless belt on rollers for moving goods. | ||
| 1795 | Hydraulic press | Bramah’s press: a small force on a small piston gives a large one on a large piston. | ||
| 1796 | Music box | A pinned cylinder plucks a comb and plays a tune. | ||
| 1800 | Interchangeable parts | Parts of one type are identical and fit any product. | ||
| 1800 | Lead screw | A screw that moves a machine’s carriage precisely. | ||
| 1800 | Screw-cutting lathe | A lathe with a lead screw (Maudslay) for cutting precise threads. | Lathe | |
| 1818 | Milling machine | A machine in which a rotating cutter removes material. | CNC machine | |
| 1830 | Grinding machine | Machining with an abrasive wheel. | ||
| 1840 | Wrench | A tool for turning nuts. | ||
| 1850 | Compressor | A machine that compresses gas. | ||
| 1850 | Jack | A device for lifting heavy loads a short height (screw or hydraulic). | ||
| 1860 | Drill press | A machine for drilling holes. | ||
| 1861 | Rock drill | Pneumatic drilling of rock (Sommeiller). | Jackhammer | |
| 1868 | Wristwatch | A watch worn on a bracelet. | Pocket watch | Smartwatch |
| 1869 | Ball bearing | A bearing in which sliding friction is replaced by rolling balls. Jules Suriray’s 1869 patent was for the bicycle. | ||
| 1871 | Jackhammer Charles Brady King | A percussion tool driven by compressed air. | Rock drill | |
| 1876 | Overhead crane | A crane on a beam in a workshop. | ||
| 1880 | Roller chain | A chain of links with rollers; Hans Renold patented the modern design. | ||
| 1880 | Sprocket | A toothed wheel that engages a chain or a track. | ||
| 1880 | Chain drive | Transmitting rotation between shafts by an endless chain looped around sprockets. | ||
| 1883 | Vending machine | A machine that dispenses goods for a coin; Heron had a prototype. | Heron’s aeolipile | Parking meter |
| 1895 | Electric drill | An electric tool for drilling (Wilhelm Fein, 1895). | Bow drill | |
| 1896 | Geneva drive | Turns continuous rotation into intermittent motion; advances the film. | ||
| 1913 | Assembly line | Flow production in which the product moves between workstations (Ford). | Lean manufacturing | |
| 1917 | Forklift | A lift truck with forks. | Warehouse robot | |
| 1924 | Statistical quality control | Shewhart’s control charts. | ||
| 1925 | Pallet | A platform for stacking goods. | ||
| 1926 | Chainsaw | A saw with a cutting chain and an engine. | Saw | |
| 1947 | Industrial automation | Controlling processes without people. | ||
| 1950 | Lean manufacturing | The Toyota Production System. | Assembly line | |
| 1952 | CNC machine | A machine tool controlled by a program. | Milling machine | |
| 1961 | Industrial robot | A programmable manipulator; the first was Unimate at a GM plant. | Surgical robot | |
| 1984 | 3D printer | Building objects layer by layer (Hull). | ||
| 2003 | Warehouse robot | Robots that carry shelving units (Kiva). | Forklift | |
| Flywheel | A heavy wheel that smooths out uneven rotation. | |||
| Shaft | A rotating rod that transmits torque. | |||
| Reduction gear | A gear train that lowers speed and raises torque. |