| c. 3500 BC | Sumeria | The Sumerians invent the wheel. Consisting of two or three wooden segments held together by transverse struts that rotate on a wooden pole, its invention transforms transportation, warfare, and industry. It also suggests that draft animals had been tamed by this date and that metallurgy for making saws and axles is also available. Evidence indicates that the wheel was invented only once and then spread to Asia and Europe. |
| c. 3000 BC | Sumeria | The chariot is invented in Ur and Tutub in Sumeria. It is constructed of solid wheels that rotate on a fixed axle, a wooden platform protected by sidescreens framed with wood and covered with skins, and a draft pole linked to the yoke of a pair of oxen. They are mounted by both spear-carriers and charioteers. |
| c. 1500 BC | China | Wheeled vehicles appear in China. |
| c. 850 BC | Asia Minor | The first arched bridge is built, at Izmir in present-day Turkey. |
| c. 170 BC | Rome | The first paved streets in the world are created in Rome. |
| 250 | China | The earliest Chinese references to a device known as ‘the emperor's south-pointing carriage’ date to this period. An ingenious and complex system of gearing was used so that, whichever way the carriage turned, a statue on the top always pointed in the same direction. |
| 1596 | South America, Central America | The first wheeled vehicles are introduced to the New World by Spanish colonists. |
| 1769 | France | French engineer Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot designs a steam tractor intended for pulling artillery. It is never developed. |
| 1779 | UK | Work begins on the first iron bridge to cross the River Severn near Coalbrookdale, Shropshire, England. Final design and construction are the work of English iron master Abraham Darby III. |
| 1779 | France | French inventors Jean Blanchard and M Masurier construct a velocipede, a type of early bicycle (but with four wheels), in Paris, France. |
| 1797 | England | English engineer Richard Trevithick builds high-pressure working models of stationary and moving steam locomotives. |
| 1816 | France | French photography pioneer and inventor Nicéphore Niépce invents the ‘celeripede’. A two-wheeled ancestor of the bicycle, it is propelled by pushing the feet against the ground, but cannot be steered. |
| 6 April 1818 | Germany, UK | German inventor Karl von Drais de Sauerbrun exhibits his draisienne, a two-wheeled bicycle propelled by pushing the feet along the ground, with a padded seat and a swivelling steering mechanism. It becomes popular in Britain the following year and is known as the ‘hobby horse’. |
| 1819 | France | The world's first omnibus service begins in Paris, France; within a decade the idea spreads to other major cities. |
| 1831 | USA | The US engineer Matthias William Baldwin develops a steam-tight boiler that doubles the pressure of previous steam engines and allows locomotives to reach speeds of 96 kph/60 mph. |
| 1845 | Scotland | Scottish inventor Robert Thomson patents the pneumatic tyre. Although used for 1,930 km/1,200 mi on a horsedrawn brougham carriage, pneumatic tyres are not used again until the end of the century. |
| 31 January 1858 | England | English engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel's steamship Great Eastern is launched. With a displacement of 19,222 tonnes/18,918 tons, and 211 m/692 ft long, it is the largest ship in the world. It has two sets of engines that drive two screw propellers and two paddlewheels, and is the first steamship with a double iron hull. Its design serves as the prototype for modern ocean liners. |
| 1861 | France | French inventor Pierre Michaux and his son Ernst construct the first successful bicycle with pedals. The pedals are attached to the front wheel, and because it has steel tyres and no springs it is called the ‘bone-shaker’. |
| 1870 | England | The English inventor James Starley makes the first ‘pennyfarthing’ bicycle, so named because the difference in size between the wheels resembled the difference between the largest and smallest British coins. |
| 1874 | England | The English inventor H J Lawson develops the ‘safety bicycle’. Because it has two equal-sized wheels, rubber tyres, and is powered by an endless chain between the pedals and the rear wheel, it has greater stability and is easier to brake than other bicycles. |
| 1879 | Germany | German electrical engineer Werner von Siemens demonstrates an electric tram at the Berlin Exhibition in Germany. The first electrically powered locomotive, it runs on a track 500 m/1,640 ft long. |
| 1905 | USA | There are 77,988 automobiles registered in the USA, up from 300 in 1895. |
| 19 February 1921 | USA | The US Red Cross announces that 20,000 children die in automobile accidents each year. |
| 16 March 1926 | USA | US inventor Robert Hutchings Goddard achieves the first flight of a liquid-propelled rocket, at Auburn, Michigan. It reaches an altitude of 12 m/41 ft. |
| 11 June 1930 | | The first bathysphere, a spherical steel craft for undersea exploration, built by US zoologist William Beebe and US engineer Otis Barton, descends to 435 m/1,428 ft. |
| 1931 | USA | The B-9 bomber, the progenitor of all modern combat aeroplanes, is produced by the Boeing Aircraft Company in the USA; it is the first twin-engine, all-metal bomber with retractable landing gear. |
| 26 March 1934 | United Kingdom | The Road Traffic Act introduces driving tests in the UK. |
| 1935 | | US inventor Robert H Goddard launches a liquid-propelled rocket faster than the speed of sound. |
| 12 September 1955 | England | English engineer Christopher Cockerell patents the first hovercraft. |
| April 1959 | Canada, USA | The St Lawrence Seaway is completed. It provides the Great Lakes with access to the Atlantic Ocean. |
| 1963 | USA | The USA has 6% of the world population and 66% of the world's cars. |
| 3 September 1967 | Sweden | Sweden changes to driving on the right. |
