The new tech tree thread

[Harel]

Hello all! This project was started by our glorious Yin26. I was asked to assist in the completion of this task. This thread will include the rewrite of the previous posts and summary. It not yet complete, and will be patched slowly by your help, mine and Yin's.

Right now, only the wonder list is available. I hope to post the city improvement section later today, but for now I only post the wonder sections, mainly to see if everything stands out ok and if the layout is readable.

Many dates here are still not pin-pointed down, and we all could use our help. I checked with Britannica.com about every subject here before I posted it, but some elements still require further research.

The Apolyton list o' dates

This list was devised by the efforts of many people here at apolyton. They came from a long range of sources, including encyclopedias, history books, personal knowledge and online sites. Of course, when talking about ancient history their is always a certain amount of uncertainty.
All dates will be dubbed with a "accuracy" icon:
- Un accurate, requires further verification or open to debate. and nailing down.
- Validated and checked dates, in the closest possible proximity.

Wonders: by date scale

Pyramids: 2590-2500 BC
The three large pyramids of Giza ( Khufu 2590-2567 BC, Khafre 2540-2514 BC and Menkaure 2510-2500 BC ) were erected on a rocky plateau on the west bank of the Nile River near Al-Jizah. The Khuku pyramid is also called "the great pyramid", and it's 147 meters high.

The hanging gardens: 810-783 BC / 605-561 BC
The gardens did not actually "hang" but were instead "up in the air" - that is, they were roof gardens laid out on a series of ziggurat terraces that were irrigated by pumps from the Euphrates River. Traditionally, they were the work either of the semi legendary Queen Sammu-ramat ( Greek Semiramis, mother of the Assyrian king Adad-nirari III, who reigned from 810-783 BC ) or of King Nebuchadrezzar II ( who reigned 605-561 BC ), who built them to console his Median wife, Amytis, because she missed the mountains and greenery of her homeland.
More proof that indeed Nebuchadrezzar II who built the gardens.

Sun Tzu's War Academy: 770-476 BC?
The famous book attributed to Sun Tzu, a general and military strategist called Sun Wu. He served the state of Wu near the end of the Spring and Autnumn periods ( 770-476 BC ). Some claim, however, that is was probably written in the more hectic days of China, when civil war was common, after the end of the Autnumn period up to 221 BC.
Accurate date on the publishing of the book, or when it was started to be used official be the chinese army.

Oracle: 582 BC?
The Delphic oracle was consulted not only on private matters but also on affairs of state, and its utterances often swayed public policy. It was also consulted whenever a colony was to be sent out from Greece proper, so that its fame spread to the limits of the Greek-speaking world. The destruction of Krisa in 590 BC opened free access to Delphi. the Pythian games were raised to Panhellenic status in 582 BC. the prestige of the Oracle was now at its height.
The first written governmental script that attributes a decision of the oracle. For example, the books of "I claudius".

The lighthouse: 285-280 BC
The lighthouse was designed by Sostratos of Knidos, which started on this project in 285 BC in the reign of Ptolemy I. It was finished in the early days of the reign of Ptolemy II, somewhere in 280 BC. The lighthouse stood on the island of Pharos in the harbour of Alexandria and is said to have been more than 110 meters high; the only taller man-made structures at the time would have been the pyramids of Giza. According to the ancient sources consulted by Thiersch, the lighthouse was built in three stages, all sloping slightly inward; the lowest was square, the next octagonal, and the top cylindrical. A broad spiral ramp led to the top, where a fire burned at night.

Great library: 283-247 BC
Became the intellectual centre of the Hellenistic world under Ptolemy II ( 283-247BC ). Alexandria was the city Ptolemy made his capital. There he founded a museum and started collecting books for a library. Following the father was his son Ptolemy Philadelpus who made the library the best in the world.

Colossus: 282 BC
The Colossal statue of the sun god Helios that stood in the ancient Greek city of Rhodes and was one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Made of bronze and reinforced with iron, it was weighted with stones. The Colossus was said to be 32 meters high. It took 12 years to complete, and the project was finished in 282 BC.

The great wall: 210 BC
Large parts of the fortification date from the 7th through the 4th century BC. In the 3rd century BC Shih huang-ti, the first emperor of a united China, connected a number of existing defensive walls into a single system, a project that was completed in 210 BC. However, the majority of the wall we know today was built by the Ming dynasty in 1368-1644 AD.

King Richard's Crusade: 1191-1192 AD
After he was crowned in 1189, Richard joined the Third Crusade with his friend Philip II of France.

Marco Polo's Embassy: 1265-1291 AD
Marco Polo famous travels, were in fact with his other family, mainly his father, Niccole, and his uncle Maffeo. They were important traders in Venice, and were probably part of the lower royalty class. In 1260 The family set their aims down the Volga river, was a great fortune in jewels and gems. When they couldn't return to Venice due political shift, they traveled to the Mongol court of Kublai Khan. After creating friendly relations with the Khan, they returned as Ambassadors to Europe. They stayed up to 1291 AD in the Mongol empire, after traveling along vast regions, including north China. If to believe some of the reports, the family also received position of powers, such as city governors and court advisors in this time.

Leonardo's Workshop: 1481-1519 AD
Leonardo worked in his teacher Antonio Pollaiuolo workshop as an apprentice up to the year 1472. Then he was received into the painters guild of Florence but he remained in his teacher workshop for another five years. After that he continued to work in Florence until 1481, after which he supposedly opened up he's own "workshop".
Other possible dates: time of his posting articles on his legendary "tanks" and "helicopters".

Copernicus' Observatory: 1497-1500 AD
While Copernicus interest was always in astronomy, and he published several papers on the subject ( including his revolutionary concept of the solar system model, in his famous series of books De revolutionibus ). However, the only time that he had a free access to an observatory and all his attention span on Astronomy ( for he also studied law and medicine ), was when he lived with the principal astronomer at the university, Domenico Maria de Novara , somewhere in the years 1497-1500 AD.

Michelangelo's Chapel: 1512 AD
Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel from 1508 to 1512 AD, commissioned by Pope Julius II.

Magellan's Expedition: 1519 AD
Magellan set off in the late 1519 from Sanlúcar de Barrameda with 270 men.

Shakespeare's Theatre: 1599 AD
When referring ti the Shakespearean theatre, they mean the famous London theatre. It was built by two brothers, Cuthbert and Richard Burbage, and it played the plays of William Shakespeare almost entirely from 1599 AD. It was positioned in Bankside ( a district of Southwark stretching for about half a mile west of London Bridge on the south bank of the River Thames ), where the Swan and the Rose theatres already stood.

Issac Newton's College: 1687 AD
The publication of Newton's Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica including a full description of his 1665 experiments. He had corresponded with several people from 1679 onwards about centripetal forces and elliptical orbits. It introduced the world to the newton principles and remain till today one of the most important books in the schismatical history. It was published in 1687 AD.

J. S. Bach's Cathedral: 1703 AD
Bach was first appointed organist at the newly constructed Arnstadt Church in 1703 at the age of 18, a very loftily title. While he's special and unique music make the Arnstadt Church famous, it was never "his" in anyway, nor was it or any other church named after him in later days.

Adam Smith's Trading Co.: 1766 AD
Adam Smith is most famous for his book "The Wealth of Nations" from 1766 AD, that drastically changed the economical thinking of those days. He never actually owned, however, a Trading Company.

Darwin's Voyage: 1858 AD
Darwin's Voyage on the Beagle exploration vessel lasted from 1831-1836 AD. He based he's future life-work mainly on his sighting in the Galapagos island archipelago. He published he's work, "The origin of the species", in 1858 AD.

Statue of Liberty: 1886 AD
A present of the France Republic to the American nation, this 93 meter bronze statue was designed by Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi's. I was opened to the public in 1886 AD on Ellis Island in the state of New-York.

Eiffel Tower: 1889 AD
The Eiffel Tower was built in Paris for the World Exhibition in 1889. The work started in late 1887 and took a little less then two years to complete. It was designed by Eiffel Gustave and it's 300 meter tall. It was the tallest man-made object in the world in that time.

Women's Suffrage: 1848-1919 AD
The modern movement for female suffrage began with the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848. Wyoming gave women the right to vote in 1869. The first nation that gave women voting rights was New zeland in 1893. In 1919 the US Congress ratified the 19th amendment and gave voting rights to all women.
Anyone have another, more specific date? Where should it be pin-pointed?

Hoover Dam: 1936 AD
The biggest dam in the US, it was dubbed Hoover dam in 1947 after president Herbert Hoover. It's 221 meter high and 379 meter long, it produce 1.35 giga-watt of power. It was constructed between 1930-1936 AD.

United Nations: 1945 AD
The united nation council opened it's doors to other nations beside the original allies countries in 1945 AD.

SETI Program: 1962 AD
The SETI - Search for Extra Terrasial Intelligence started in 1962 AD.

Manhattan Project: 1945 AD
The secret research project to achieve nuclear power ( and mainly, nuclear power ) has reach it's completion with the usage of the nuclear bombs on the japanese nation in 1945 AD.

Apollo Program: 1969 AD
While the Apollo program was announced in 1691 by the US president Kennedy, and it continued up to the middle of the 70's with other Apollo launch, it reached it's zenith with the landing on the moon, in 1969 AD.

Cure for Cancer: 2010~ AD
Not available yet, unless we count chemo-theraphy as a limited cure.

City improvements: by alphabetical order

Units: by alphabetical order

Technology: by date scale

Contributors:

Atahualpa, Harel, Huey, Hugo Rune, S. Kroeze, Stryfe, The "Mad" viking, Yin26
[This message has been edited by Harel (edited May 13, 2000).]

Hey, an optional feature for Civ III should be rewarding people for making achievements before they were made in real history.
At the end of the game you could be given a "compared to real history" score.

That's a really good idea. I like it!

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~~~I am who I am, who I am - but who am I?~~~

[yin26]

Harel,

It's looking great! The lightbulbs are cool. In a way it's good thing that Civ3 will take a while to finish because we have a long way to go on this yet, but you are already doing a great job.

[S. Kroeze]

Dear Harel,

I admire your courage and boundless energy. Thanks for taking over the torch!

I also have some rather critical remarks. I think you didn't read carefully some of my contributions, especially the one about Sun Tzu, which was in part a verbatim out of a specialized dictionary. In general the information in such specialist studies is more up-to-date than a general encyclopaedia, which as a rule is about twenty years behind.
And I think you should never suggest greater certainty than you can substantiate. In my opinion your dating/description of the Colossus and the Hanging Gardens is too positive. There is at least the possibility that those Gardens were as ephemeral as the Tower of Babel and the Gardens of Edens, two other Wonder stories, originating in this miraculous civilization.

I hope not to have discouraged you.
Sincere regards

[Maniac]

Strange. Here the three great pyramids are from Cheops, Chefren and Mycerinos...