274, A.D. Silk first imported from India.
664, A.D. Glass first invented in England by O. Benalt, a monk.
1284, A.D. The Alphonsine Astronomical Tables constructed, under the patronage of Alphonso X. of Laon and Castile.
1337, A.D. The first comet described with astronomical precision.
The first diving bell we read of was a very large kettle suspended by ropes with the mouth downwards, and planks fixed in the middle of its concavity. Two Greeks at Toledo in 1583, made an experiment with it before Charles V. They descended in it with a lighted candle to a great depth.
The Odyssey was written upon the skin of a serpent.
Formerly pennies were marked with a double cross and crease, so that it might easily be broken into two or four parts.