Materials, metals
Classification
Metals and metalloids consist primarily of copper, bronze, iron, steel, steel alloys, aluminum, and silicon. Metals typically require smelting of ores to create. Common properties of metals include: malleability, ductility, conduction, luster (shine), high melting point solid, readily form oxides, and sonorous.
Inventions from the TOKENS ERA Era
| Invention | Description | Year | Inventor | Country |
| Elemental copper artifacts | pre-smelting metallurgy | 8700 BCE | Northern Iraq | |
| Metal chisel | copper | 7500 BCE | Middle East | |
| Tin smelting | furnace required | 6500 BCE | Turkey | |
| Copper smelting | more advanced furnace | 5000 BCE | Serbia | |
| Lost wax casting | metal replaces melted wax | 4000 BCE | Israel, Indus River | |
| Forging | advanced furnace | 4000 BCE | Sumer, Mesopotamia | |
| Metal rivet | metallurgy | 4000 BCE | Sumer, Mesopotamia (90) |
Inventions from the WRITTEN ERA Era
| Invention | Description | Year | Inventor | Country |
| Bronze smelting | tin and copper alloy | 3400 BCE | Mesopotamia (11) | |
| Nail | bronze | 3400 BCE | Egypt (64) | |
| Bell | bronze | 3000 BCE | China | |
| Saw | bronze | 3000 BCE | Egypt | |
| Metal pliers | metal tongs | 3000 BCE | Egypt/Mesopotamia | |
| Brazing and soldering | metal bonding | 2500 BCE | Egypt | |
| Wrought iron | simple iron | 2500 BCE | Anatolia, Turkey | |
| Welding | strong metal bonding | 2500 BCE | Anatolia, Turkey | |
| Iron and gold dagger | meteoric iron | 2500 BCE | Anatolia, Turkey (82) | |
| Metal lock and key | security | 2000 BCE | Assyria/Egypt | |
| Iron smelting | iron from ore | 1800 BCE | Mesopotamia (11) | |
| Steel | iron-carbon alloy | 1800 BCE | Anatolia, Turkey | |
| Iron weaponry | swords, spears, arrow heads | 1600 BCE | Hittites | Anatolia, Turkey (82) |
| Scissors | bronze | 1500 CE | Egypt | |
| Wool shears | metal | 1000 BCE | Egypt |
Inventions from the ALPHABET ERA Era
| Invention | Description | Year | Inventor | Country |
| Buckle | metal | 700 BCE | Greece | |
| Metal boat anchor | 600 BCE | Greece | ||
| Wootz crucible steel | Damascus steel | 600 BCE | South India | |
| Chain mail | metal | 400 BCE | Romania | |
| Gears | metal and wood | 350 BCE | China | |
| Ball bearing | metal and wood | 40 AD | Rome | |
| Metal fork | hygiene utensil | 300 AD | Rome | |
| Paired metal stirrups | require a saddle to attach | 300 AD | China (62) |
Inventions from the NUMBERS ERA Era
| Invention | Description | Year | Inventor | Country |
| Bessimer process | steel production | 1040 AD | China | |
| Coil spring | timekeeping | 1420 AD | Germany |
Inventions from the PRINT ERA Era
| Invention | Description | Year | Inventor | Country |
| Metal screw | 1450 AD | Europe (65) | ||
| Insulated copper wire | for electricity | 1827 AD | Joseph Henry | USA (12) |
Inventions from the WIRED ERA Era
| Invention | Description | Year | Inventor | Country |
| Chicken wire fence | 1844 | Charles Barnard | UK | |
| Safety pin | 1849 | Walter Hunt | USA | |
| Bessimer steel process | high volume quality steel | 1855 | Henry Bessimer | UK (28) |
| Modern whaling harpoon | 1864 | Svend Foyn | Norway | |
| Paper clip | 1867 | Samuel Fay | USA | |
| Stainless steel | chromium steel alloy | 1872 | J. E. T. Woods, J. Clark | UK (28) |
| Barbed wire | practical | 1874 | Joseph Glidden | USA |
| Blow torch | welding lower temperatures | 1881 | Carl Nyborg | Sweden |
| Steel girder skyscraper | high rise buildings | 1884 | William Le Baron Jenney | USA |
| Electric arc welding | advanced welding | 1885 | Nikolai Benardos, Stanislaus Olszewski | Russia/Poland |
| Aluminum | commercial production | 1886 | Charles Martin Hall, and Julia Hall, Paul Heroult | USA/France (57) |
| Bayer process | for aluminum | 1887 | Carl Josef Bayer | Austria |
| Bottle cap | with cork seal | 1892 | William Painter | USA |
| Vacuum flask | Thermos device | 1892 | James Dewar | UK |
| Oxy-acetylene welding | torch welding | 1903 | Edmond Forche, Charles Picard | France (77) |
| Crescent wrench | adjustable wrench | 1907 | Johan Petter Johansson | Sweden |
| Aluminum foil | 1910 | J. G. Nehor and Sons | Switzerland | |
| Stainless steel | commercial production | 1913 | Harry Brearley | UK (28) |
| Rivot | metal | 1915 | Scotland, UK (90) |
Inventions from the WIRELESS ERA Era
| Invention | Description | Year | Inventor | Country |
| Snap on socket wrench | directional wrenches with improved leverage | 1920 | Joseph Johnson, William Seidemann | USA |
| Allen wrench | hex head screw | 1920 | Edigio Brugola, William G. Allen | Italy/USA |
| Super alloy Al-Ni-Cr | aluminum, nickel, chromium alloy | 1926 | Paul Dyer Merica | USA |
| Metal foam | extremely lightweight metal, porous | 1926 | John C. Elliott | USA |
| Metal detector | 1928 | Gerhard Fisher | Germany/USA | |
| Pop rivet, blind rivet | allows one sided application | 1928 | Louis Huck | USA |
| Shape memory alloys | gold-cadmium | 1928 | Arne Olander | Sweden |
| Beverage can | 1933 | American Can Co. | USA | |
| Phillips head screw | more reliable for mechanical application | 1934 | Henry F. Phillips | USA |
| Transistor | MOS transistor most common device made ever | 1947 | John Bardeen Walter Brattain, Willam Shockley, Bell labs | USA |
| Plasma spray | 1950 | Max Ulrich Schoop | Switzerland | |
| Electron beam welding | 1952 | Karl-Heinz, Steigerwald | Germany | |
| Hot isostatic pressing metal | HIP metal | 1955 | Gripshover, Hanes, Battelle's Columbus labs | USA |
| Integrated circuit | silicon metalloid semiconductor "chip" | 1958 | Jack Kilby | USA (21) |
| Pop top drink can | ring pull pop top | 1959 | Ermal Fraze | USA |
Inventions from the INTERNET ERA Era
| Invention | Description | Year | Inventor | Country |
| Intel 80486 microprocessor | 1 million transistors | 1990 | Intel | USA |
| Human radiofrequency identification chip | RFID chip | 1998 | Charles Watson | UK/USA |
| Composite metal foam | hybrid materials | 2005 | Afsaneh Rabiei | USA |
| Porous tantalum | bone compatible | 2005 | Zimmer | USA |
| 3 dimensional metal printing | accurate digital construction | 2018 | Carl Deckard | USA |
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