The technology of the Song Dynasty (960–1279 AD) was advanced,
providing some of the most prolific technological advancements in
Chinese history, much of which came from talented statesmen drafted by
the government through imperial examinations. The ingenuity of
mechanical engineering had a long tradition in China. The Song Dynasty
engineer Su Song admitted that he and his contemporaries were building
upon the achievements of the ancients such as Zhang Heng, an
astronomer, inventor, and early master of mechanical gears. The
application of movable type printing advanced the already widespread
use of woodblock printing to educate and amuse Confucian students and
the masses. The application of new weapons employing the use of
gunpowder enabled the Song Dynasty to ward off its militant enemies
until its collapse to the Mongol forces of Kublai Khan, in the late
13th century. Notable advancements in civil engineering, nautics, and
metallurgy were made in Song China, as well as the introduction of the
windmill to China during the 13th century. These advancements, along
with the introduction of paper-printed money, helped revolutionize and
sustain the economy of the Song Dynasty.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technology_of_the_Song_Dynasty
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1306:
Robert the Bruce was crowned King of Scotland at Scone Palace in
Perth.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_I_of_Scotland)
1634:
Lord Baltimore, his younger brother Leonard Calvert, and a group of
Catholic settlers founded the English colony of Maryland.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Province_of_Maryland)
1655:
Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens discovered Titan, the largest
natural satellite of the planet Saturn.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titan_%28moon%29)
1802:
France and the United Kingdom signed the Treaty of Amiens,
temporarily ending the hostilities between the two during the French
Revolutionary Wars.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Amiens)
1807:
The Slave Trade Act became law, abolishing the slave trade in the
British Empire.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slave_Trade_Act_1807)
1918:
The Belarusian People's Republic was established during World War I,
when Belarus was occupied by the German Empire according to the Treaty
of Brest-Litovsk.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belarusian_National_Republic)
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Wiktionary's Word of the day:
rostrum: A dais, pulpit, or similar platform for a speaker, conductor
or other performer.
(
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rostrum)
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Wikiquote of the day:
Political rights do not exist because they have been legally set down
on a piece of paper, but only when they have become the ingrown habit
of a people, and when any attempt to impair them will meet with the
violent resistance of the populace. Where this is not the case, there
is no help in any parliamentary Opposition or any Platonic appeals to
the constitution. One compels respect from others when he knows how
to defend his dignity as a human being.
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rudolf_Rocker)