Technology milestones

This list runs from the earliest to the most recent. Dates for ancient events are approximate.

Timeline

1. Late 6th century BC: Greek builders begin using cranes to lift stone blocks.
2. 1st century BC: Vitruvius describes Roman lifting machines with pulleys.
3. Around the 1st and 2nd centuries AD: Roman treadwheel cranes appear in carved reliefs.
4. Middle Ages: treadwheel cranes are used to build cathedrals and to load ships in harbours.
5. 1800s: steam power arrives on cranes, and iron and steel replace timber.
6. 1846: William Armstrong builds a hydraulic crane at Newcastle upon Tyne.
7. Late 1800s: electric motors are used to power cranes.
8. 1949: Hans Liebherr produces a mobile tower crane that can be moved and set up in one piece.
9. Mid to late 1900s: telescopic hydraulic mobile cranes become common, and computer-based load monitoring follows.