Ancient Egyptians developed basin irrigation as an agricultural technique.
Ancient Roman concrete, used in structures like the Pantheon, is stronger than modern concrete and becomes more durable over time through chemical reactions with seawater.
Ancient Egyptian civilization relied on the Nile River's dependable seasonal flooding for agriculture.
Ancient Egyptians cultivated papyrus as an industrial crop.
Ancient Egyptians are credited as being one of the first groups of people to practice agriculture on a large scale.
The Mesopotamian states of Sumer, Akkad, and Assyria began using arithmetic, algebra, and geometry starting around 3000 BC.
Early Chinese cultures showed astronomical interest, as evidenced by historical records.
The aeolipile is also known as Hero's engine.
From around 3000 BC, the Mesopotamian states of Sumer, Akkad, and Assyria began using arithmetic, algebra, and geometry for taxation, commerce, trade, and astronomy.
Ancient Egyptians grew flax as an industrial crop.
Ancient Egyptians grew wheat and barley as staple food crops.
Ancient Egyptians domesticated corkscrew-horned sheep and depicted them on stone tomb murals of pharaohs.
Göbekli Tepe was explored again in the 1990s, when its much greater age was recognized.
Ancient Egypt's documented history spans approximately three millennia.
Vitruvius described the aeolipile in his work De architectura.
Ancient Egyptians believed coffins could transform the deceased, not just contain them.
Central American cultures showed astronomical interest in early history.
Early mathematics in ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Ebla was used for taxation, commerce, and trade.
Early mathematics in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Ebla was used to record time and formulate calendars.
Many sources credit Hero of Alexandria with inventing the aeolipile.
Paleontological observations date back to at least the 6th century BC.
Paleontological observations date back to at least the 6th century BC.
Ancient Egyptian coffins were believed to act as a portal between the worlds of the living and the dead.
Honey never spoils; archaeologists have found 3,000-year-old honey in Egyptian tombs that was still perfectly edible.
Mammoths still walked the Earth when the pyramids were built—woolly mammoths survived on Wrangel Island until ~2000 BCE, 500 years after Giza's construction.
North European cultures showed astronomical interest in early history.
Early astronomical records from the Babylonians date back to around 1000 BC.
Pre-Columbian civilizations of the Andes region identified astronomical configurations based on dark silhouettes rather than bright stars.
The Archimedes Palimpsest is a medieval parchment manuscript that was scraped and overwritten but originally contained several previously unknown works by Archimedes.
An aeolipile produces torque from steam jets exiting the turbine.
