Inventions

Question 1

First Domestication of Fire

Answer 1

The earliest found evidence of fire (in the form of oxidized earth patches) dates back to 1.6 million years in Kenya.

Question 2

Writing

Answer 2

In 3200 BCE the Sumerians invented cuneiform, consisting of wedge shaped symbols.

Question 3

The Wheel

Answer 3

The wheel was first used by Sumerians and used for pottery around 3500 BCE.
Combined with the axle the wheel was first used in transportation and a pot found in Poland, a few centuries later, though may have also been invented in Mesopotamia independently.

Question 4

Gunpowder (and the story behind it)

Answer 4

Gunpowder was invented accidentally by Chinese alchemists who were looking for the elixir of life around 850 AD by combining saltpetre (potassium nitrate), sulphur and charcoal.
China held a monopoly on gunpowder until the 13th century, though over the first few centuries gunpowder was hardly used in warfare and was instead implemented in firecrackers.