c. 1180
Transportation
Northern Europe
Stern-mounted rudder
A hinged rudder on the sternpost gives large ships reliable steering.
Why it mattered
Made bigger, ocean-going hulls controllable.
Middle Ages
1180
2 recorded milestones at this point in the record.
c. 1180
Technology
Europe
Wheelbarrow and spinning wheel reach Europe
Two Asian labour-saving devices entered European workshops and fields.
Why it mattered
Quietly multiplied the output of ordinary work.
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Nearby in the record
c. 1150Energy
Windmill in Europe and the vertical axle in Persia
Europe
1206Technology
Al-Jazari's automata and crank-connecting rod
Anatolia
c. 1206Communication
Mongol relay post and Pax Mongolica
Central Asia
1215Society
Magna Carta
England
c. 1250Medicine
Spectacles
Italy
c. 1250Science
Nasir al-Din al-Tusi and the Maragha observatory
Persia