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| c. 1050 |
| | | The earliest surviving reference to the principle of the compass occurs in a Chinese manuscript | |
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| 1064 |
| | | Su Sung, a Buddhist monk, develops in China the principle of the escapement in his tower clock worked by a water wheel | |
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| c. 1200 |
| | | The Chinese develop a feature of great significance in the history of seafaring - a sternpost rudder which is an integral part of the ship | |
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| 1268 |
| | | The first mention of a lens occurs in a manuscript by Roger Bacon, to be soon followed by the invention of spectacles | |
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| 1364 |
| | | A great clock is completed in Padua, regulated mechanically by foliot and escapement | |
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| 1386 |
| | | A clock, designed only to strike the hours, is installed in Salisbury cathedral and is still working today | |
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| c. 1397 |
| | | The keyboard of the organ is adapted in Germany to strings, thus providing the harpsichord - first mentioned in a manuscript of this year | |
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| c. 1450 |
| | | The oldest surviving spring mechanism (enabling clocks to become small and portable) is put to work | |
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| c. 1500 |
| | | The first watches, made in Nuremberg, are spherical clocks about three inches in diameter, worn usually on a ribbon round the neck | |
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| c. 1550 |
| | | The tinderbox provides a new way of making fire - with just flint, steel and tinder | |
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