All of the credit for the concept of this interesting thread goes to Mursalin, one of the hardest working Mods in the political forums. I am not certain how best to arrange all of this information, but I thought to start off with ancient inventions and then gradually move to more modern ones. I am certain there will be some errors in the info. presented, but I hope very much some will let me know so I can rectify them ASAP. Some links include pictures of the objects.
Trepanation Kit, found globally, 2000 BCE http://www.smith.edu/hsc/museum/ancient_inventions/hsc06b.htm
Trepanation is a method of brain surgery whose origins can be traced to the Late Stone Age. Some remote societies still practice it today, and in some tribal cultures of East Africa it has survived as an integral part of traditional medicine. Doctors employed this invasive procedure to relieve distress caused by a variety of disturbances, including skull fractures, parasites, pressure, hydrocephaly, incurable headaches, and even evil spirits. Intricate and refined instruments aided prehistoric surgeons in the different methods of penetrating the skull, and sometimes in actually removing tissue from the brain.
Tumbler Lock, Egypt, Iraq, Greece, 1000 BCE http://www.smith.edu/hsc/museum/ancient_inventions/hsc09b.htm
This simple tumbler lock was probably invented around 1000 BCE, although a date of 2000 BCE has also been proposed. Many sources believe this lock was invented in Egypt, though locks of this type have been found in ruins in Iraq that predate those found in Egypt. After its invention and its movement into Egypt, the lock made its way into Greece. Here this new system was a great improvement over the previous locks, which were simply a board drawn across a door. From Greece the lock moved into Europe. The lock is the first mechanical fastening for doors, and is said to be the only major European architectural improvement in classical times. The mechanism consists of a key and a lock. The key is simply a bit of wood with small pins, usually of brass. These pins enter small holes in the bolt and lift similar pins in the lock. The pins of the key push the lock pins out of the holes, and the bolt can be moved aside and the door opened. When leaving the building, the bolt is slid across the door jamb, and the pins fall into the grooves in the bolt. To unlock, the key is slid into the opening in the bolt and lifted up, which moves the bolt-pins out of the way.
Ancient calendar systems http://www.civilization.ca/civil/maya/mmc07eng.html
Of all the world’s ancient calendar systems, the Maya and other Mesoamerican systems are the most complex, intricate and accurate. Calculations of the congruence of the 260-day and the 365-day Maya cycles is almost exactly equal to the actual solar year in the tropics, with only a 19-minute margin of error. Maya astronomer-priests looked to the heavens for guidance. They used observatories, shadow-casting devices, and observations of the horizon to trace the complex motions of the sun, the stars and planets in order to observe, calculate and record this information in their chronicles, or “codices”. From these observations, the Maya developed calendars to keep track of celestial movements and the passage of time. The Maya also kept detailed records of the moon, although these do not seem to constitute a formal lunar calendar.
