We read of a beautiful table, "wherein Saturn was of copper, Jupiter of
gold, Mars of iron, and the Sun of silver, the eyes were charmed, and the
mind instructed by beholding the circles. The Zodiac and all its signs
formed with wonderful art, of metals and precious stones."
Was not this an imperfect orrery?
In 1283, say the annals of Dunstable, "We sold our slave by birth,
William Pike, with all his family, and received one mark from the buyer."
Men must have been cheaper than horses.
In 1340, gunpowder and guns were first invented by Swartz, a monk of
Cologne. In 1346, Edward III. had four pieces of cannon, which
contributed to gain him the battle of Cressy. Bombs and mortars were
invented about this time.
In 1386, the magnificent castle of Windsor was built by Edward III. and
his method of conducting the work may serve as a specimen of the
condition of the people in that age. Instead of engaging workmen by
contracts or wages, he assessed every county in England to send him a
certain number of masons, tilers, and carpenters, as if he had been
levying an army.
In 1654, the air pump was invented by Otto Guericke, a German.
1406, B.C. Iron first discovered by burning the woods on Mount Ida, in
Greece.
720, B.C. The first lunar eclipse on record.
Anaximander, the disciple of Thales, invented maps and globes; born about
610 B.C.
894, B.C. Gold and silver money first coined at Argos, in Greece.
274, A.D. Silk first imported from India.
664, A.D. Glass first invented in England by O. Benalt, a monk.
1284, A.D. The Alphonsine Astronomical Tables constructed, under the
patronage of Alphonso X. of Laon and Castile.
1337, A.D. The first comet described with astronomical precision.
The first diving bell we read of was a very large kettle suspended by
ropes with the mouth downwards, and planks fixed in the middle of its
concavity. Two Greeks at Toledo in 1583, made an experiment with it
before Charles V. They descended in it with a lighted candle to a great
depth.
The Odyssey was written upon the skin of a serpent.
Formerly pennies were marked with a double cross and crease, so that it
might easily be broken into two or four parts.