To conceive a child, the maturation of the follicle in the ovary is necessary. If this one...
We live in a unique time! It takes only half a day to fly around half the Earth, our super-powerful smartphones are 60,000 times lighter than the original computers, and today's agricultural production and life expectancy are the highest in the history of mankind!
We owe these tremendous achievements to a small number of great minds - scientists, inventors and artisans who have come up with and developed the products and mechanisms on which the modern world is built. Without these people and their great inventions, we would go to bed at sunset and be stuck in a time when there were no cars or telephones.
In this list, we will talk about the most important and decisive recent inventions, their history and significance in the development of mankind. Can you guess which inventions we are talking about?
From the methods of sanitizing food and making it safer, to the toxic gas that helped form the basis of international trade, to the invention that led to the sexual revolution and liberated people, each of these creations has had a profound impact on people's lives. Learn about 25 amazing inventions that have changed our world!
25. Cyanide
While cyanide is a rather grim way to start this list, the chemical has played an important role in human history. While its gaseous form has caused the death of millions of people, cyanide is the main factor in extracting gold and silver from ore. And since the world economy was tied to the gold standard, cyanide served and continues to be an important factor in the development of international trade.
24. Airplane
There is no doubt that the invention of the "iron bird" had one of the greatest influences on the history of mankind.
Drastically reducing the time it takes to transport people and goods, the airplane was invented by the Wright brothers, who built on the work of previous inventors such as George Cayley and Otto Lilienthal.
Their invention was readily accepted by a significant part of society, after which the "golden age" of aviation began.
23. Anesthesia
Before 1846, there was little difference between surgical procedures and painful experimental torture.
Anesthetics have been used for thousands of years, although their early forms were much more simplified versions, such as alcohol or mandrake extract.
The invention of modern anesthesia in the form of nitrous oxide ("laughing gas") and ether has allowed physicians to operate without fear of causing pain to their patients. (Bonus fact: cocaine is said to have been the first effective form of local anesthesia since it was used in eye surgery in 1884.)
22. Radio
The history of the invention of the radio is not so clear: someone claims that it was invented by Guglielmo Marconi, someone insists that it was Nikola Tesla. In any case, these two men relied on the work of many famous predecessors before successfully transmitting information via radio waves.
And although this is already a common thing today, try to imagine that in 1896 you told someone that you could transmit information over the air. You would be mistaken for insane or possessed by demons!
21. Telephone
The telephone has become one of the most important inventions of the modern world. As is the case with most great inventions, its inventor and the people who made a significant contribution to its appearance are discussed in heated debates and discussions to this day.
The only thing known for certain is that the first patent for a telephone was issued by the US Patent Office to Alexander Graham Bell in 1876. This patent served as the basis for further research and development of electronic sound transmission over long distances.
20. "The World Wide Web, or WWW
Although most of us assume that this invention is recent, the Internet actually existed in its obsolete form as early as 1969, when the US military developed the ARPANET (Advanced Research Project Agency Network).
The first message that was planned to be transmitted over the Internet - "log in" ("log in") - disabled the system, so only "lo" could be sent. The World Wide Web as we know it today began when Tim Berners-Lee created the hypertext document network and the University of Illinois created the first Mosaic browser.
19. Transistor
It seems that there is nothing easier than picking up the phone and contacting someone in Bali, India or Iceland, but nothing would have happened without a transistor.
Thanks to this semiconductor triode, which amplifies electrical signals, it became possible to transmit information over great distances. The man who was one of the inventors of the transistor - William Shockley - founded the laboratory that stood at the origins of the creation of Silicon Valley.
18. Quantum clock
Although it may not seem as revolutionary as many of the things listed above, the invention of quantum (atomic) clocks was decisive for the development of mankind.
Using microwave signals emitted by changing energy levels of electrons, quantum clocks have made possible a wide range of modern inventions with their precision, including GPS, GLONASS and the Internet.
17. Steam turbine
The Charles Parsons steam turbine pushed the boundaries of human technological progress, giving power to industrialized countries and helping ships to cross vast oceans.
The engines work by rotating the shaft using compressed water vapor to generate electricity - one of the main differences between a steam turbine and a steam engine, which made a revolution in the industry. In 1996 alone, 90% of all electricity generated in the US was produced by steam turbines.
16. Plastic
Despite its ubiquitous use in modern society, plastics are a relatively recent invention, dating back only a hundred plus years.
This moisture-resistant and incredibly pliable material is used in almost every industry - from food packaging to toys and even spacecraft.
Although most modern plastics are made from petroleum, there are increasing calls for a return to the original version, which was partially natural and organic.
15. Television
Television has a long and storied history that began in the 1920s and has continued to evolve to the present day with modern features such as DVDs and plasma panels.
As one of the world's most popular consumer products (nearly 80% of households own at least one television), this invention was the cumulative result of numerous previous inventions that led to a product that became a major influencer of public opinion in the middle of the 20th century.
14. Oil
Most of us don't think twice before filling up our car's gas tank. Although mankind has been extracting oil for a millennium, the modern gas and oil industry began its development in the second half of the 19th century - after modern street lamps appeared on the streets.
Assessing the huge amount of energy that is generated by burning oil, industrialists rushed to build wells for the extraction of "liquid gold".
13. Internal combustion engine
If there were no productive oil, there would be no modern internal combustion engine.
Used in many areas of human activity - from cars to agricultural combines and excavators - internal combustion engines make it possible to replace people with machines that can perform overwhelming, painstaking and time-consuming work in a matter of time.
Also, thanks to these engines, a person received freedom of movement, since they were used in the original self-propelled vehicles (cars).
12. Reinforced concrete
Until the advent of reinforced concrete in the middle of the 19th century, mankind could safely erect buildings only up to a certain height.
The incorporation of steel reinforcing bars before pouring the concrete has strengthened it so that the man-made structures are now able to carry much more weight, allowing us to build buildings and structures even larger and taller than ever before.
11. Penicillin
Today, there would be far fewer people on our planet if it were not for penicillin.
Officially discovered by Scottish scientist Alexander Fleming in 1928, penicillin is one of the most significant inventions (mostly discoveries) that have made our modern world possible.
Antibiotics were among the first medicines to properly deal with staphylococcus aureus, syphilis, and tuberculosis.
10. Cooling
The taming of fire was perhaps the most important discovery of mankind to date, but it would take more than one millennium until we tamed the cold.
Although mankind has long used ice for cooling, its practicality and availability has been limited for some time. In the 19th century, humanity made significant progress in its development after scientists invented artificial cooling using chemical elements that absorb heat.
By the early 1900s, almost every meatpacking plant and large wholesaler was using artificial refrigeration to store food.
9. Pasteurization
Helping to save the lives of many people half a century before the discovery of penicillin, Louis Pasteur invented the process of pasteurizing, or heating food (originally beer, wine, and dairy products) to a temperature high enough to kill most putrefactive bacteria.
Unlike sterilization, which kills all bacteria, pasteurization, while preserving the palatability of the product, only reduces the number of potential pathogens, reducing it to a level at which they are not capable of harming health.
8. Solar battery
Just as oil fueled the development of industry, the invention of the solar battery has allowed us to use renewable energy in a much more efficient way.
The first practical solar battery was developed in 1954 by specialists from the Bell Telephone laboratory based on silicon. Over the years, the efficiency of solar panels has increased dramatically along with their popularity.
7. Microprocessor
If the microprocessor had not been invented, then we would never have known about laptops and smartphones.
One of the most widely known supercomputers - ENIAC (ENIAC) - was created in 1946 and weighed 27.215 kg. Intel electronics engineer and world hero Ted Hoff developed the first microprocessor in 1971, putting the functions of a supercomputer on a single small chip, making portable computers possible.
6. Laser
An acronym for "Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation", the laser was invented in 1960 by Theodore Maiman. The amplified light is anchored through spatial coherence, which allows the light to remain focused and concentrated over long distances.
In today's world, lasers are used almost everywhere, including laser cutting machines, barcode scanners, and surgical equipment.
5. Nitrogen fixation (nitrogen fixation)
While the term may seem overly scientific, nitrogen fixation is actually responsible for the dramatic increase in the human population on Earth.
By converting atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia, we have learned how to produce highly effective fertilizers, thanks to which, on the same plots of land, it became possible to increase production volumes, which significantly improved our agricultural products.
4. Assembly line
The impact of the inventions that have become commonplace, which they had in their time, is rarely remembered, but the importance of the assembly line cannot be overestimated.
Before his invention, all products were painstakingly made by hand. The assembly line allowed for the mass production of identical components, greatly reducing the time to produce a new product.
3. Birth control pill
Although pills and tablets have been one of the main methods of taking medicine for thousands of years, the invention of the birth control pill was the most revolutionary of them all.
Approved for use in 1960 and now taken by more than 100 million women worldwide, this combined oral contraceptive was the main impetus for the sexual revolution and changed the dialogue about fertility, largely shifting the responsibility of choice from men to women.
2. Mobile phone / smartphone
Chances are you're currently reading or browsing this list on your smartphone.
While the first widely known smartphone was the iPhone, which hit the market in 2007, we have Motorola, its "ancient" predecessor, to thank for that. In 1973, it was this company that released the first wireless pocket mobile phone, which weighed 2 kilograms and took 10 hours to charge. To make matters worse, it could only be spoken for 30 minutes before the battery needed to be recharged again.
1. Electricity
Most of the modern inventions on this list wouldn't even be remotely possible were it not for the greatest of them all, electricity. As long as one thinks that the Internet or the plane should top this list, both of these inventions should be grateful to electricity.
William Gilbert and Benjamin Franklin were the pioneers who laid the initial foundation upon which such great minds as Alessandro Volta, Michael Faraday and others built, sparking the Second Industrial Revolution and opening era of lighting and electricity.
Lesson plan:
1. New inventions and improvements.
2. Navigation improvement.
3. Discovery of the near Atlantic (islands off Africa).
4. Advance to the East (to India).
Expectations 1492
Events of 1492
THE YEAR 1492 IS THE YEAR 7000 "FROM THE CREATION OF THE WORLD". BELIEVED THAT GOD
CREATED THE WORLD IN 7 DAYS, LOSTED TO IT
EXISTENCE OF 7000 YEARS. AS A RESULT
MANY CHRISTIANS IN EUROPE WANTED THE END OF THE WORLD. EARTHQUAKES AND FLOODS, HURRICANS AND
SOLAR ECLIPSES. PEOPLE LEFT THEIR HOUSES TO PRAY IN THE FORESTS AND MOUNTAINS AND REFUSED TO PLAN AFTER 7000.
THE YEAR 1492 ACTUALLY DID NOT HAPPEN
EARTHQUAKES - THE END OF THE WORLD DID NOT HAPPEN. HOWEVER, IT WAS EXACTLY IN THIS YEAR THE SHIPS OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS REACHED THE COASTS OF THE NEW, COMPLETELY UNKNOWN MATERIAL - AMERICA.
New opportunities and open spaces opened up before brave, resolute people.
Screw based inventions
The screw press was used:
- In typography: issue of technical literature (Giorgi Agricolla "On mining and metallurgy in 12 books"). Books of ancient thinkers: Aristotle, Ptolemy. Works of the geographer and astronomer Paolo Toscanelli.
- In the manufacture of coins.
Advances in metallurgy:
They allowed us to move on to the production of cast tools, which were stronger than forged ones.
- Cannons began to be produced (they fired iron cannonballs).
- The making of muskets
- Flintlock guns (instead of a wick, a flint salvo was used here).
Improvement in navigation
Long journeys were made possible by the advent of caravel(a new type of well-controlled vessel), and a little later appeared gallion- a large vessel more adapted to long voyages.
They began to make navigation charts (Portuguese). Previously, there were maps with the outlines of Europe, Asia and North Africa.
New inventions allowed Europeans to expand knowledge about the Earth, to make the Great Geographical Discoveries.
TECHNICAL INVENTIONS
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF INVENTIONS
1. WATER ENGINE
2. Blast Furnace
5. PRINTING
TECHNICAL INVENTIONS
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF INVENTIONS
1. WATER ENGINE
2. Blast Furnace
3. IMPROVEMENTS IN FIREARMS
4IMPROVEMENT OF SHIPBUILDING
5. PRINTING
MADE PEOPLE'S WORK EASIER
METAL SELTING INCREASED
REVOLUTION IN MILITARY MATTERS
LONG VOYAGE IN THE SEA
DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATION
Reasons for showing interest in the development of distant countries:
- international trade
(entrepreneurial spirit).
- Lack of precious metal
(thirst for enrichment).
- overpopulation in the Mediterranean.
- Desire to spread Christianity.
The first countries to embark on the path of exploration of new lands were Spain and Portugal
The first exploration of Africa belongs to the Portuguese.
Henry the Navigator- Prince Enrique, son of the Portuguese king, the organized era of geographical discoveries is connected. He gathered around him the most famous travelers and founded a military port in Sagris (Portugal), an observatory and a school of cartography. Sent by Enrique, the sailors reached the extreme point of the African continent of Cape Verde.
After the death of Henry the Navigator, the Portuguese reached the equator. In 1480-
Opened the mouth of the river. Congo in the Southwest
Africa. Expedition of Bartolomeu Dias in 1488. Went in search of a way to India and got caught in a storm. The ship drifted south into the ocean. After the storm, Dias sent the ship to the east, but there was no shore. Then they changed course to the north and reached the East coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean. The cape in southern Africa was called the Cape of Storms, but later the Portuguese renamed it the Cape of Good Hope.
Expedition Bartolomeu Dias (1450-1500)
Expedition Vasco da Gamma (1469-1524)
After 8 months of sailing, Vasco da Gama brought the ship to the port of Calcutta (India). The Portuguese spent 3 months in Calcutta. Having loaded the ship with spices, we set off. But they came home after 2 years. The value of the cargo exceeded 60 times the funds spent on the expedition. This journey showed that the way to the East exists. These were the first steps in the study of the oceans.
Epoch New time - a period in the history of mankind, located
between the Middle Ages and modern times.
During this period of time:
the emergence of a new civilization, a new system of relations
Europeanization of the world, "European miracle"
expansion of European civilization to other parts of the world
development of the capitalist formation
the process of changing socio-economic formations,
the most important factor of which is the class struggle.
Man's worldview
Looking at the world order from a different angle:During the Middle Ages, the planet Earth was considered
immovable center around which all revolve
planets and stars.
Discovery of N. Copernicus: not the Earth, but the Sun should
be the unmoving center of the universe.
40-year work "On the rotation of the celestial spheres", published
at Nuremberg in 1543.
Inventions of the new time
Technique and productionOne of the most important innovations
that time - typography.
Inventor of printing press Johannes Gutenberg, in 1440 he
built his own printing press.
Gutenberg Bible issued by Johannes Gutenberg in the first half of the 1450s
Technology
printing was doneas follows: on
wooden goats,
who were cut out
raised letters
liquid paint, then
put a sheet on top
paper and rubbed soft
brush.
Technology
Thin sheets were made for printing.metal boards on which
icons cut out. There was
multiple methods: outline lines
letters were left, and everything else
cut off; cut deep into the board
the outline of the letters - then the letters at
printing came out white, but everything
the rest remained black.
Distribution of printing
In the tombs of Thebes and Babylon they foundbricks with embossed inscriptions
The Assyrians served for chronicles
burnt clay cylinders
cut letters
Geographical figures carved in Athens
maps on thin copper boards
Roman potters on
the dishes they make
printed the customer's name or
designation of the purpose for which it
intended.
The Importance of Printing
1. Rapid spread across Europe:1470 - in France
1473 - in Belgium and Hungary
around 1473 - in Poland
1465 - in Italy
1474 - in Spain
1476 in Czechoslovakia and England
2. Increasing the level of education over two centuries
3. Significant reduction in transmission time
information
10. Woodcut
Later they began to cut the text with a knife onwooden boards; this so-called
woodcut.
The oldest work that has come down to us
of this art, bearing the date
printing, refers to 1423 ("Bible
the poor"). The surviving books were printed only
on one side of the sheet. From books,
printed in this way, most
the so-called "Donuts" are known
(composition of the Roman grammarian Elius
Donat).
Woodcuts also existed in 1475, in
1482 and even in 1504.
11. Consequences of technological progress
Cardinal changes - due to the newtype of work organization.
With the advent of the new time to change
handicraft production of the Middle Ages
comes the manufactory type of production.
In manufactories, labor remained manual, but, in
unlike medieval workshops, was
introduced a division of labor, which
significantly improved performance
labor.
In the manufactories, the craftsmen did not work on
himself, but on the owner of the manufactory.
12. Development of mining and metallurgy
The most important improvement is the iron smelting process- replacement of the cheese-blowing oven with the so-called shtukofen
(ancestor of the modern blast furnace)
By the beginning of the 15th century, such furnaces had been significantly improved. For
bellows were driven by water wheels.
By the 16th century, such wheels, sometimes reaching enormous sizes
(up to ten meters in diameter), began to be used to climb from
ore mines and for other operations.
since the 16th century, it has been used for heating and in production
fossil coal.
13. Inventions of the New Age
New time - the dawn of physics and chemistry, which dominated theall other branches of human knowledge. The laws were known
Newtonian mechanics, electricity was discovered, which paved the way for
development of electrodynamics.
Outstanding achievements were also made in optics. were invented
steam engine and internal combustion engine, which contributed to
development of transport and economic development of states.
At the end of the modern period, radio, telegraph,
phone, x-rays were discovered.
With the invention of the internal combustion engine,
play extraction of oil and other minerals.
The beginning of the 20th century marked itself as the heyday of electronics.
Electricity was a brilliant discovery of mankind.
New time (or new history) - a period in the history of mankind, located between the Middle Ages and modern times. In this period of time, the emergence of a new civilization, the Eurocentric world, the "European miracle" and the expansion of European civilization to other parts of the world. In the era of modern times, the ideals and norms of science were formed, orienting to the solution of practical problems. Leading role in the development of science XVII-XVIII centuries. played mechanics, astronomy, mathematics. A special contribution to the formation of a new system of knowledge was made by Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) and Isaac Newton (1643-1727). An important method of modern science was the experiment, which tested the results of theoretical research.
XVII-XVIII centuries marked by numerous technical inventions. The telescope (G. Galileo, I. Kepler) and the microscope significantly expanded the boundaries of human knowledge. Pendulum clocks (H. Huygens) made it possible to reliably and accurately measure time in a scientific experiment, and in navigation - to determine longitude. Having spread widely in everyday life, they formed the habit of regulating everyday life and taught punctuality. The chime of the clock reminded us of the irreversibility of time and the need to use every minute productively. The invention of the thermometer (G. Galilei) made it possible to replace subjective temperature assessments with objective ones. A mercury barometer (E. Torricelli) provided accurate fixation of atmospheric pressure.
In August 1609, it was Galileo who made the world's first complete telescope . At first, it was just a spotting scope - a combination of spectacle lenses. Before Galileo, most likely, few people guessed to use this entertaining tube for the benefit of astronomy. Thanks to the device, Galileo himself discovered mountains and craters on the Moon, proved the sphericity of the Moon, discovered the four satellites of Jupiter, the rings of Saturn, and made many other useful discoveries. The very poor image quality in the first telescopes forced opticians to look for ways to solve this problem. In 1663, Gregory created a new design for a reflecting telescope. Gregory was the first to suggest using a mirror instead of a lens in a telescope. The first reflecting telescope was built by Isaac Newton in 1668. The scheme by which it was built was called "Newton's scheme". The length of the telescope was 15 cm. At present, almost all telescopes are mirrors. At first, mirrors were made from metal blanks. Now they are made of glass, and then a thin layer of silver or aluminum is applied to the surface, which is deposited in a vacuum. The world's largest mirror telescope. Keka has a diameter of 10 m and is found in the Hawaiian Islands. In Russia, the BTA telescope, 6 m in size, operates in the Caucasus.
Inventions and discoveries of the beginning of modern times
Gutenberg shows the first printed book to the monks who copied the manuscripts by hand.
Great discoveries and great inventions. - Many discoveries during the XV century. and at the beginning of the 16th century they accelerated the fall of the Middle Ages and the advent of modern times.
During this time, a number of inventions were distributed and put into general use, which are: gunpowder, compass, oil painting, engraving, paper and printing; about the same time, great navigators discovered the New World and a new way by sea to the eastern countries of the Old World.
The most famous of these inventors were: the German Gutenberg, who invented printing, and the Genoese Christopher Columbus, who discovered America; we must honor them, as well as our greatest compatriots, for their inventions and discoveries have rendered us the same services as to all other people, they belong to all mankind and constitute its pride and glory.
Gunpowder and firearms: the consequences of this invention. - Gunpowder was invented by the Chinese, but they only used it for fireworks. The Arabs used it in war and through them it became known to the Europeans.
The first cannons were of stone, very heavy, and made more noise than they harmed the enemy: such were the cannons used by the English at Crécy, 1346.
Around the same time, firearms appeared with a hand-held squeaker, inside which, with the help of a mechanism, a lit wick came into contact with gunpowder.
In the 15th century, this weapon was improved; began to make cannons from bronze, mounted on wheels and transported by horses. Then they began to put a stone into the pischel instead of a wick, and thus a musket appeared.
Since then, it was easier to destroy castles, which at that time belonged to the nobility. From now on, the knights, despite their heavy armor, were not protected from the impacts of cannonballs and bullets. At that time, knights fought only on horseback; the cavalry represented the noble army par excellence.
But only the kings, thanks to taxes levied on the lower classes of the population, had enough funds to maintain a large army of infantry and have many cannons; in this way it was not difficult for them to do away with the feudal lords.
The invention of gunpowder and firearms everywhere hastened the fall of feudalism and the triumph of absolute monarchy.
Compass. - In the XIV century, Europeans borrowed the use of the compass from the Arabs. This is a magnetized needle, the point of which is always turned towards the north; until that time: sailors did not dare to move away from the coast, fearing to get lost in the open sea. From now on they can set out on the open sea, for the compass always points north, and in this way the other three main points can be determined. The compass contributed to the great maritime discoveries.
Opening the way around the Cape of Good Hope. - Up to XV table. Europeans knew only Europe and the African and Asian shores of the Mediterranean; they knew, of course, that Asia stretched far to the east, but their conception of Asia was very vague. The southern and central parts of Africa were completely unknown; the existence of Oceania and America was not even suspected.
In the XV table. Portuguese navigators moved along the western coast of Africa; one by one they discovered the island of Madera, the Canary Islands and the shores of the Gulf of Guinea. In 1484 one of them reached the Cape of Good Hope.
In 1497, Vasco de Gama rounded this cape and entered the Indian Ocean; sailing along the east coast of Africa, he came to India. Thus, a sea route to the Far East was found. The Portuguese set up trading posts on the coasts of Africa and in India to trade with the natives, from whom they bought spices and silks and resold them in Europe.
Discovery of America: the first trip around the world. - Christopher Columbus made an even more important discovery: he discovered a new world - America.
Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy. In that era, the Genoese were the first navigators. By marrying the daughter of a merchant captain who had left him his nautical charts and all his nautical instruments as a legacy, he himself became a sailor. Reading the works of the ancients, he came to the conclusion that the earth is round and therefore, heading westward by sea, it should land on the shores of India. It was necessary to convince one of the reigning persons of this idea in order to receive ships and all means for the implementation of their intentions. Chr. Columbus addressed the king of Portugal and the king of England. These bold proposals were greeted with ridicule in the royal courts, and the great man was treated as a fool or a lunatic. Unfortunately, the ignorant usually look down on people who bring new truth to the world. Ferdinand and Isabella, king and queen of Spain, received him favorably, and commissioned a council of learned theologians to consider his project; the latter announced Chr. Columba is a fool and a heretic: and in fact, none of the sacred books mentions the sphericity of the earth. However, one monk, the queen's confessor, achieved that three non-deck ships and 90 sailors were placed at his disposal. Having passed the Canary Islands, the travelers lost sight of the land, sailing all the time to the west in an unknown vast space. Two, three weeks pass, finally a month; nothing is visible but sky and water.
The crew is in fear, an uprising breaks out, which Columbus vigorously suppresses; the deep faith of the scientist does not leave him for a minute. Finally, on the thirty-third day of sailing, the sentry on the mast notices the land.
The crew landed on a wonderful island, which was called San Salvador (1492). Columbus returned to Spain to announce his discovery at court; he was showered with honors. He made several more journeys, and discovered many other islands and coasts of a large continent, believing that he arrived in the East Indies, but by a shorter route than Vasco de Gama; in fact, these were the coasts of America, located in the middle of the ocean, between the East Indies and Europe.
After the last trip, Columbus was received coldly, because he did not bring with him bars of gold from the newly discovered country, which, according to the stories of the sailors, was rich in gold. The envious courtiers accused him of treason to their master. Columbus was imprisoned, from where he was released only by the grace of Isabella. Soon he died and died a poor man.
Another traveler, who was in the service in Spain, the Portuguese Magellan proved that Columbus was not mistaken in claiming that the earth is round. His ship left Spain (1519), sailed across the Atlantic Ocean, passed at the southern tip of America, crossed the Great Ocean and, heading west during the entire voyage, three years later returned across the Indian Ocean past the Cape of Good Hope to the same place where he left . But Magellan himself was killed while traveling by the savages of one small oceanic island on which he landed.
Spanish conquerors.- The natives of America were little civilized, few in number and poorly armed; their country abounded with rich gold and silver mines, especially Mexico and Peru.
Crowds of greedy Spanish adventurers rushed after rich booty, committing outrageous cruelties against the weak natives, a huge number of whom were exterminated by them. The most daring and bloodthirsty of them, the famous Ferdinand de Cortes conquered Mexico for his master, the Spanish king.
Influence of the great maritime discoveries.- These maritime discoveries profoundly changed the conditions of life in Europe.
The newly discovered lands introduced Europeans to the use of many hitherto unknown plants, such as: tobacco, cocoa, from which chocolate is prepared, quinine, maize, later potatoes and dye-wood. In addition, coffee, sugar cane, and cotton were brought to America from Africa and Asia; all these plants took root excellently there, especially in the Antilles, little by little ceased to be a luxury in Europe. In addition, all these discoveries greatly enriched and expanded maritime trade; until then, all maritime trade was concentrated in large cities located along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea; from now on, little by little, ocean ports begin to flourish: London, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Le Havre, Nantes, Bordeaux outshine Genoa and Venice.
Finally, precious stones, which until then were rare in Spain, appeared in it in relative abundance; gold and silver exported from Peru and Mexico enriched Spain with specie, which, having entered circulation, fed trade and industry; Wealth and luxury spilled over into the rich classes, and out of their midst a bourgeois class soon formed, making the most of the successes of trade and industry.
Oil painting, engraving.- Until now, they wrote with water colors on wood or on walls covered with fresh lime; this latter method is called fresco. But the tree cracks over time, it is sharpened by worms; dampness destroys frescoes; oil paints were invented in the 15th century; this invention made it possible to keep colors indestructible.
About the same time wood engraving was invented, and a little later metal engraving; on a wooden or metal board, lines were drawn in relief or indentations, which were covered with bold ink; drawn in this way on a blackboard, was printed on a sheet of paper, by pressing the board on paper prepared for such use; engraving made it possible to reproduce at little cost an infinite number of drawings and prints.
It is clear how much these two inventions should have favored the development and prosperity of the fine arts.
Paper and typography.- Once there were only manuscripts, i.e. handwritten books, which were most often written on parchment. The high cost of parchment, the slow work of the scribe increased the price of books, and they were available only to the rich.
In the 14th century, linen came into general use, and it occurred to someone to use old, unusable linen, turning it into dough, which, with a certain processing, turned into paper; thanks to this cheap method of production, paper soon replaced parchment.
Somewhat later they learned to do without a copyist. In the early years of the XV table. whole pages were already engraved on wooden boards, which could be reproduced in a large number of copies by laying sheets of parchment on the boards; but only the same page could be reproduced in this way. Around 1436, a worker from Mainz, Gutenberg, came up with a very simple but ingenious idea to carve individual, movable letters from wood: by fastening the letters properly and composing whole pages from them, he could reproduce the manuscript in several copies, then disassemble these letters and, spreading them out in a new order, compose the following pages. And so the printing press was invented. Together with another worker, he subsequently replaced the wooden letters with letters carved from lead. Finally, one of the workers found a way to cast metal letters by pouring molten metal into a mold, and in this way made thousands of them using the same mold, instead of slowly cutting out one letter at a time.
Gutenberg, like many other great inventors, died in poverty.
The Mental Revolution Spawned by Printing. - With the discovery of printing, a great force was created that excited the whole world; since then, with the cheapening of books, various knowledge, accessible only to a small number of scientists and literate people, began to spread more and more among the masses; the works of scientists, poets, artists, the creativity of a flourishing genius in one part of the globe was communicated to the other end of it, giving rise to new great creations: from that time on, every new idea had a full opportunity to spread; henceforth it was no longer possible to stifle the revealed truth. Printing has become a formidable weapon in the struggle against all power, against all the traditions of the past. First of all, it shed the light of the Italian Renaissance throughout Europe and contributed to the emergence of a great religious revolution: the Reformation.
From the book History of France through the eyes of San Antonio, or Berurier through the centuries the author Dar Frederic From the book In Search of India. Great geographical discoveries from antiquity to the beginning of the 16th century author Dmitrichev Timur FedorovichCHAPTER I OPENING BEFORE OPENING
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From the book of Noah's Ark and the Dead Sea Scrolls author Cummings Violet MCHAPTER 8 NEW DISCOVERIES FROM THE AIR During the Second World War, the airspace over Mount Ararat was used much more actively than in any other historical period, since over it there was a direct route between the Allied air base in Tunisia and
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From the Dead Sea Scrolls. Long road to unraveling author Vanderkam James From the book Great Secrets of Russia [History. Ancestral home. Ancestors. Shrines] author Asov Alexander IgorevichEvents of the beginning of the Busov Times The news of the birth of Bus that year spread throughout all the Aryan kingdoms. According to the signs (comet), the Ruskolan sorcerers and Zoroastrian magicians determined that an heir was born, to whom the throne of the Aryan land rightfully belongs.
From the book General History in Questions and Answers author Tkachenko Irina Valerievna23. How did the Great geographical discoveries and colonial conquests of the late XV - early XVI centuries take place? The great geographical discoveries played an important role in the transition to the bourgeois mode of production. This historical process was caused by the development of the productive forces
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From the book A Short Course in the History of Russia from Ancient Times to the Beginning of the 21st Century author Kerov Valery Vsevolodovich authorChapter II Starting Point of Gutenberg's Invention Typification and Technization in Pre-Typographic Book Business Teaching Reading. Engraving. 1490 Ornament from a handwritten book Bookwriter The idea of circulation could not have arisen without some typification of book production in the prepress period. AT
From the book Johann Gutenberg and the beginning of printing in Europe author Varbanets Natalia VasilievnaChapter VIII The Struggle between the Gutenberg and Fust-Schaeffer Versions of the Invention in the Early Colophons and Izvestia The Colophon of the Catholikon of 1460. Fragment A portrait of Gutenberg in old age. From the Parisian edition of 1584 Signet P. Schaeffer When in August 1457 the colophon of the Psalter announced
