c. 700
Communication
China
Woodblock printing
Carved wooden blocks print texts and images on paper in Tang China.
Why it mattered
Copies without copyists: the first mechanical reproduction of text.
Middle Ages
700
2 recorded milestones at this point in the record.
c. 700
Exploration
Oceania
Polynesian wayfinding to Hawaii and Rapa Nui
Navigators read swells, stars and birds to settle the remotest islands on earth.
Why it mattered
The most demanding open-ocean navigation ever achieved without instruments.
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