The history of ferrous metallurgy began far back in prehistory, most likely with the use of iron from meteors. Stone Age Paleolithic See also Paleolithic, Recent African Origin, Early Homo sapiens, Early human migrations "Paleolithic" Iron (ˈаɪɚn is a Chemical element with the symbol Fe (ferrum and Atomic number 26 The smelting of iron in bloomeries began in the 12th century BC in India, Anatolia or the Caucasus. Chemical reduction, or smelting, is a form of Extractive metallurgy. A bloomery is a type of Furnace once widely used for Smelting Iron from its oxides. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Anatolia (Anadolu Ανατολία Anatolía) or Asia minor, comprising most of modern Turkey, is the geographic region bounded by the Black The Caucasus ( also referred to as North Caucasus) is a geopolitical region located between Europe Asia & Middle East Iron use, in smelting and forging for tools, appeared in Sub-Saharan Africa by 1200 BC. ^[1] The use of cast iron was known in the 1st millennium BC. Cast iron usually refers to grey cast iron, but identifies a large group of Ferrous Alloys which solidify with a Eutectic. The 1st millennium BC encompasses the Iron Age and sees the rise of successive empires During the medieval period, means were found in Europe of producing wrought iron from cast iron (in this context known as pig iron) using finery forges. QtubIronPillarJPG|thumb|right| Iron pillar at Delhi India containing 98% wrought iron]] Wrought iron is commercially pure Iron. Cast iron usually refers to grey cast iron, but identifies a large group of Ferrous Alloys which solidify with a Eutectic. Pig iron is the intermediate product of Smelting Iron ore with coke, usually with Limestone as a flux Iron tapped from the Blast furnace is Pig iron, and contains significant amounts of Carbon and Silicon. For all these processes, charcoal was required as fuel. Charcoal' is the blackish residue consisting of impure Carbon obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from Animal and Vegetation

Steel (with a smaller carbon content than pig iron but more than wrought iron) was first produced in antiquity. Steel is an Alloy consisting mostly of Iron, with a Carbon content between 0 Pig iron is the intermediate product of Smelting Iron ore with coke, usually with Limestone as a flux QtubIronPillarJPG|thumb|right| Iron pillar at Delhi India containing 98% wrought iron]] Wrought iron is commercially pure Iron. New methods of producing it by carburizing bars of iron in the cementation process were devised in the 17th century AD. Carburization (often referred to as carburizing) is a heat treatment process which iron or steel is heated to "below the melting point in the presence of a solid liquid The cementation process is an obsolete technique for making Steel by Carburization of Iron. As a means of recording the passage of Time, the 17th Century was that Century which lasted from 1601 - 1700 in the Gregorian calendar In the Industrial Revolution, new methods of producing bar iron without charcoal were devised and these were later applied to produce steel. The Industrial Revolution was a period in the late 18th and early 19th centuries when major changes in agriculture manufacturing and transportation had a profound effect on the In the late 1850s, Henry Bessemer invented a new steelmaking process, involving blowing air through molten pig iron, to produce mild steel. Events and Trends Industry Production of Steel revolutionized by invention of the Bessemer process Benjamin Silliman Sir Henry Bessemer ( January 19, 1813 – March 15, 1898) English Engineer and Inventor. This and other 19th century and later processes have led to wrought iron no longer being produced. The 19th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1801 and ended on December 31, 1900, according to the Gregorian calendar QtubIronPillarJPG|thumb|right| Iron pillar at Delhi India containing 98% wrought iron]] Wrought iron is commercially pure Iron.

Meteoric iron

See also: Iron meteorite

Willamette Meteorite, the sixth largest in the world, is an iron-nickel meteorite

Because meteorites fall from the sky, some linguists have conjectured that the English word iron (OE īsern), which has cognates in many northern and Western European languages, derives from the Etruscan aisar which means "the gods". Iron Meteorites consist overwhelmingly of Nickel - Iron Alloys The metal taken from these meteorites is known as meteoric iron' and The Willamette Meteorite, officially named Willamette, is an Iron-nickel meteorite discovered in the U Iron Meteorites consist overwhelmingly of Nickel - Iron Alloys The metal taken from these meteorites is known as meteoric iron' and A meteorite is a natural object originating in Outer space that survives an impact with the Earth 's surface The Etruscan Language was spoken and written by the Etruscan civilization in the ancient region of Etruria (modern Tuscany plus western ^[2] Even if this is not the case, the word is likely a loan into pre-Proto-Germanic from Celtic or Italic. Proto-Germanic, or Common Germanic, is the hypothetical common ancestor ( Proto-language) of all the Germanic languages such as modern English The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic" a branch of the greater Indo-European Language family. The Italic subfamily is a member of the Indo-European language family's Centum branch Krahe compares Old Irish, Illyrian, Venetic and Messapic forms). Old Irish is the name given to the oldest form of the Irish language, or rather the Goidelic languages, for which extensive written texts are possessed The Illyrian languages are a group of Indo-European languages that were spoken in the western part of the Balkans in former times by groups identified as Venetic is an extinct Indo-European language that was spoken in ancient times in the North- Italian Veneto and modern Slovenia, between Messapian (also known as Messapic) is an extinct Indo-European language of South-eastern Italy, once spoken in the region of Apulia. ^[3] The meteoric origin of iron in its first use by humans is also alluded to in the Quran : "and We sent down Iron in which has incredible strength and many benefits for mankind". The Qur’an ( القرآن, literally "the recitation" also sometimes transliterated as Qur’ān, Koran, Alcoran ^[4]

Iron was in limited use long before it became possible to smelt it. Iron (ˈаɪɚn is a Chemical element with the symbol Fe (ferrum and Atomic number 26 The first signs of iron use come from Ancient Egypt and Sumer, where around 4000 BC small items, such as the tips of spears and ornaments, were being fashioned from iron recovered from meteorites. Ancient Egypt was an Ancient Civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now Sumer ( Sumerian: sux-Latn [[Ki (earth ki]]-[[EN (cuneiform en]]-'''ĝir15''', Akkadian: Šumeru; possibly Biblical Shinar Events Start of Naqada culture in Egypt 4000 BC — Early Jomon period begins on the islands of Japan This is an article about a particle accelerator For uses of spear, see Spear or Spear (disambiguation. ^[5] However, their use appears to be ceremonial, and iron was probably an expensive metal, perhaps more expensive than gold. Gold (ˈɡoʊld is a Chemical element with the symbol Au (from its Latin name aurum) and Atomic number 79 About 6% of meteorites are composed of an iron-nickel alloy, and iron recovered from meteorite falls allowed ancient peoples to manufacture small numbers of iron artefacts. Nickel (ˈnɪkəl is a metallic Chemical element with the symbol Ni and Atomic number 28

Iron meteorites consist overwhelmingly of nickel-iron alloys. The metal taken from these meteorites is known as meteoric iron and was one of the earliest sources of usable iron available to man.

In Anatolia, smelted iron was occasionally used for ornamental weapons: an iron-bladed dagger with a bronze hilt has been recovered from a Hattic tomb dating from 2500 BC. Anatolia (Anadolu Ανατολία Anatolía) or Asia minor, comprising most of modern Turkey, is the geographic region bounded by the Black The 25th century BC is a Century which lasted from the year 2500 BC to 2401 BC Also, the Egyptian ruler Tutankhamun died in 1323 BC and was buried with an iron dagger with a golden hilt. This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics. An Ancient Egyptian sword bearing the name of pharaoh Merneptah as well as a battle axe with an iron blade and gold-decorated bronze shaft were both found in the excavation of Ugarit (see Ugarit). Ancient Egypt was an Ancient Civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now Pharaoh is the title given in modern parlance to the ancient Egyptian kings of all periods Merneptah (or Merenptah) was the fourth ruler of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. Ugarit ( Ugaritic: ʼugrt; Hebrew:; Arabic:) (modern Ras Shamra رأس شمرة ("top/head/cape of the wild Fennel Ugarit ( Ugaritic: ʼugrt; Hebrew:; Arabic:) (modern Ras Shamra رأس شمرة ("top/head/cape of the wild Fennel The early Hittites are known to have bartered iron for silver, at a rate of 40 times the iron's weight, with Assyria. The Hittites were an ancient Anatolian people who spoke a language of the Anatolian branch of the Indo-European language family and established Barter is a type of Trade in which goods or services are directly exchanged Silver (ˈsɪlvɚ is a Chemical element with the symbol " Ag " (argentum from the Ancient Greek: ἀργήντος - argēntos gen Early history The most Neolithic site in Assyria is at Tell Hassuna, the center of the Hassuna culture

Meteoric iron was also fashioned into tools in precontact North America. Beginning around the year 1000, the Thule people of Greenland began making harpoons and other edged tools from pieces of the Cape York meteorite. Thule (ˈθuːli; Greek Θούλη Thoulē; also called Thile, Tile, Tilla, Toolee, or Tylen) is in Greenland (Kalaallit Nunaat meaning "Land of the Greenlanders" Grønland is a self-governing Danish Province located between the A harpoon is a long Spear -like instrument used in Fishing to catch fish or other large aquatic animals such as Whales It accomplishes this task by impaling The Cape York meteorite which collided with Earth nearly 10000 years ago is named for Cape York, the location of its discovery in Greenland, and is one of the largest These artefacts were also used as trade goods with other Arctic peoples: tools made from the Cape York meteorite have been found in archaeological sites more than 1000 miles (1600 km) away. When the American polar explorer Robert Peary shipped the largest piece of the meteorite to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City in 1897, it still weighed over 33 tons. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Robert Edwin Peary ( May 6, 1856 &ndash February 20, 1920) was an American explorer who claimed The American Museum of Natural History ( AMNH) located on the Upper West Side, Manhattan, New York, USA is one of the largest and most The City of New York Year 1897 ( MDCCCXCVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common Units of mass There are three similar units of Mass called the ton: Long ton (simply ton in countries such as the United

Iron Age

Near East

Mining areas of the ancient Middle East. This article is about the archaeological period known as the Iron Age for the mythological Iron Age see Ages of Man. The term Bronze Age refers to a period in human cultural development when the most advanced Metalworking (at least in systematic and widespread use included techniques for The Bronze Age collapse is the name given by those historians who see the transition from the The Ancient Near East refers to early Civilizations within a region roughly corresponding to the modern Middle East: Mesopotamia (modern Iraq The Dark Ages (ca 1150 BC–800 BC refers to Greek history from the presumed Dorian invasion and end of the Mycenaean civilization in the 11th century The History of Anatolia encompasses the region known as Anatolia ( Turkish Anadolu) known by the Latin name of Asia Minor, considered to be The Neo-Assyrian Empire was a period of Mesopotamian history which began in 934 BC and ended in 609 BC The history of the Caucasus region can be divided into the history of the Northern Caucasus (Ciscaucasia historically in the sphere of influence of Scythia The Third Intermediate Period refers to the time in Ancient Egypt from the death of Pharaoh Ramesses XI in 1070 BC to the foundation of the The Levant is a geographical term that refers to a large area in Southwest Asia, south of the Taurus Mountains, bounded by the Mediterranean Sea in The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenid Persian Empire ( haχɒmaneʃijɒn (558–330 BC was the first of the Persian Empires to rule over significant portions of The Iron Age in the Indian subcontinent succeeds the Late Harappan (Cemetery H culture also known as the last phase of the Indus Valley Tradition The Painted Grey Ware culture (PGW is an Iron Age culture of Gangetic plain, lasting from roughly 1100 BC to 350 BC. The Northern Black Polished Ware culture (NBPW/NBP of the South Asia (ca The Maurya Empire ( 322 – 185 BCE) ruled by the Mauryan dynasty was a geographically extensive and powerful political and military This article is about the archaeological period known as the Iron Age for the mythological Iron Age see Ages of Man. The Chernogorovka and Novocherkassk cultures (ca 900 to 650 BC are Iron Age Steppe cultures in Ukraine and Russia, centered The Hallstatt culture was the predominant The Villanovan culture was the earliest Iron Age culture of central and northern Italy, abruptly In Britain and Ireland the Iron Age lasted from about the 7th century BC until the Roman conquest and until the 5th century in non- Romanised The term ancient Greece refers to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca Ancient Rome was a Civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC Celts (ˈkɛlts or /ˈsɛlts/, see Names of the Celts The Iron Age in Scandinavia and Northern Europe begins around 500 BC with the Jastorf culture, and is taken to last until ca The Iron Age in Ancient China begins in ca 600 BC and is taken to last until the beginning of Imperial China and the rise of the Qin Dynasty The Warring States Period ( also known as the Era of Warring States covers the period from some time in the 5th century BC to the unification of China by the This article is about the archaeological period known as the Iron Age for the mythological Iron Age see Ages of Man. The is an era in the history of Japan from about 500 BC to 300 AD. Jin state was an early Iron Age state which occupied some portion of the southern Korean peninsula during the 2nd and 3rd centuries BCE bordering the Korean The Nok civilization appeared in Nigeria around 500 BC and mysteriously vanished around 200 AD German Philosopher Karl Jaspers coined the term the axial age ( Achsenzeit in the German language original to describe the period Classical antiquity (also the classical era or classical period) is a broad term for a long period of cultural History centered on the Mediterranean The Zhou Dynasty ( POJ: Chiu Tiau 1122 BC to 256 BC was preceded by the Shang Dynasty and followed by the Qin Dynasty in China. The Vedic Period (or Vedic Age) is the period in the History of India during which the Vedas, the oldest sacred texts of Hinduism, were being The history of the Alphabet begins in Ancient Egypt, more than a millennium into the History of writing. The history of ferrous metallurgy began far back in Prehistory, most likely with the use of Iron from Meteorites The Smelting of iron in Historiography in Ancient and Byzantine Greece.; Classical Greece Herodotus Hellanicus of Lesbos History The History of Roman Historiography Roman Historiography is indebted to the Greeks, who invented the form Chinese Historiography refers to the study of methods and assumptions made in studying Chinese history. The Historiography of early Islam refers to the study of the early origins of Islam based on a critical analysis evaluation and examination of authentic Primary The Middle East is a Subcontinent with no clear boundaries often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East. Boxes colors: arsenic is in brown, copper in red, tin in grey, iron in reddish brown, gold in yellow, silver in white and lead in black. Arsenic (ˈɑrsənɪk is a Chemical element that has the symbol As and Atomic number of 33 Copper (ˈkɒpɚ is a Chemical element with the symbol Cu (cuprum and Atomic number 29 Tin is a Chemical element with the symbol Sn (stannum and Atomic number 50 Iron (ˈаɪɚn is a Chemical element with the symbol Fe (ferrum and Atomic number 26 Gold (ˈɡoʊld is a Chemical element with the symbol Au (from its Latin name aurum) and Atomic number 79 Silver (ˈsɪlvɚ is a Chemical element with the symbol " Ag " (argentum from the Ancient Greek: ἀργήντος - argēntos gen Characteristics Lead has a dull luster and is a dense, Ductile, very soft highly Yellow area stands for arsenic bronze, while grey area stands for tin bronze. Arsenical bronze (or arsenical copper) is an Alloy in which Arsenic is added to Copper as opposed to or in addition to other constituent Tin is a Chemical element with the symbol Sn (stannum and Atomic number 50 Bronze is any of a broad range of Copper alloys, usually with Tin as the main additive but sometimes with other elements such as Phosphorus

About 1500 BC, increasing numbers of smelted iron objects (distinguishable from meteoric iron by the lack of nickel in the product) appear in Mesopotamia, Anatolia, and Egypt. Mesopotamia (from the Greek meaning "land between the rivers" is an area geographically located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers largely corresponding Anatolia (Anadolu Ανατολία Anatolía) or Asia minor, comprising most of modern Turkey, is the geographic region bounded by the Black This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics. ^[6]

During the Early Iron Age (12th to 10th centuries BCE) iron came to replace bronze as the dominant metal used for tools and weapons across the Eastern Mediterranean (the Levant, Cyprus, Greece, Crete, Anatolia, and Egypt). See also Names of the Levant The Levant (lə'vænt is a geographical term that denotes a large area in Western Asia, roughly bounded on the north by the Cyprus (Κύπρος transliterated: Kýpros,; Kıbrıs officially the Republic of Cyprus (Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία Kypriakī́ Dīmokratía Greece (Ελλάδα transliterated: Elláda, historically, Ellás,) officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία Crete ( Greek: Κρήτη transliteration: Krētē, modern transliteration Kriti) is the largest of the Greek islands and the Anatolia (Anadolu Ανατολία Anatolía) or Asia minor, comprising most of modern Turkey, is the geographic region bounded by the Black ^[7] Although iron objects are known from the Bronze Age across the Eastern Mediterranean, they occur only sporadically and are statistically insignificant compared to the quantity of bronze objects during this time. ^[8]

The traditional explanation of the rise of iron was that the Hittites of Anatolia had mastered iron technology during the Late Bronze Age. The Hittites were an ancient Anatolian people who spoke a language of the Anatolian branch of the Indo-European language family and established The term Bronze Age refers to a period in human cultural development when the most advanced Metalworking (at least in systematic and widespread use included techniques for ^[9] They maintained a monopoly on ironworking, which allowed them to establish their empire based on iron's superiority over bronze. The invasions of the Sea Peoples at the end of the Late Bronze Age that brought an end to the Hittite empire broke up the monopoly, spreading the technological knowledge throughout the Eastern Mediterranean as a result of their migrations. This theory is no longer held in the mainstream of scholarship. ^[10] One problem with it is that there is no archaeological evidence that the Hittites held a monopoly on iron during the Bronze Age. While there are some iron objects from Bronze Age Anatolia, the number is comparable to iron objects found in Egypt and other places of the same time period, and only a small number of these objects are weapons. ^[11]

A more recent theory for the rise of iron has been that the collapse of the empires at the end of the Late Bronze Age disrupted the trade routes necessary for bronze production. ^[12] Copper and, more importantly, tin were not widely available and needed to be transported over long distances. Tin is a Chemical element with the symbol Sn (stannum and Atomic number 50 It is assumed that during the Early Iron Age this was not possible on a scale necessary to satisfy the needs of metalworkers. Since iron ore is more abundant naturally, metalworkers exploited this more universal metal. So, the rise of iron was the result of necessity due principally to the shortage of tin. The problem with this theory is that there is nothing archaeologically that would suggest a bronze or tin shortage in the Early Iron Age. ^[13] Bronze objects are still abundant and these objects have the same percentage of tin as those from the Late Bronze Age.

Mesopotamia was fully into the Iron Age by 900 BC, central Europe by 800 BC. Mesopotamia (from the Greek meaning "land between the rivers" is an area geographically located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers largely corresponding Egypt, on the other hand, did not experience such a rapid transition from the bronze to iron ages: although Egyptian smiths did produce iron artifacts, bronze remained in widespread use there until after Egypt's conquest by Assyria in 663 BC. Early history The most Neolithic site in Assyria is at Tell Hassuna, the center of the Hassuna culture Events and trends 669 BC: Ashurbanipal succeeds his father Esarhaddon as king of Assyria.

Concurrent with the transition from bronze to iron was the discovery of carburization, which was the process of adding carbon to the irons of the time. Iron was recovered as sponge iron, a mix of iron and slag with some carbon and/or carbide, which was then repeatedly hammered and folded over to free the mass of slag and oxidise out carbon content, so creating the product wrought iron. Wrought iron was very low in carbon content and was not easily hardened by quenching. The people of the Middle East found that a much harder product could be created by the long term heating of a wrought iron object in a bed of charcoal, which was then quenched in water or oil. Charcoal' is the blackish residue consisting of impure Carbon obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from Animal and Vegetation The resulting product, which had a surface of steel, was harder and less brittle than the bronze it began to replace. Steel is an Alloy consisting mostly of Iron, with a Carbon content between 0 Quench-hardening was also known by this time. A quench refers to a rapid Cooling. In Polymer chemistry and Materials science, quenching is used to prevent low-temperature processes such as phase

Iron smelting at this time was based on the bloomery, a furnace where bellows were used to force air through a pile of iron ore and burning charcoal. A bloomery is a type of Furnace once widely used for Smelting Iron from its oxides. A bellows is a device for delivering pressurized Air in a controlled quantity to a controlled location Charcoal' is the blackish residue consisting of impure Carbon obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from Animal and Vegetation The carbon monoxide produced by the charcoal reduced the iron oxides to metallic iron, but the bloomery was not hot enough to melt the iron. Carbon monoxide, with the chemical formula CO is a colorless odorless tasteless yet highly toxic Gas. Instead, the iron collected in the bottom of the furnace as a spongy mass, or bloom, whose pores were filled with ash and slag. The bloom then had to be reheated to soften the iron and melt the slag, and then repeatedly beaten and folded to force the molten slag out of it. The result of this time-consuming and laborious process was wrought iron, a malleable but fairly soft alloy containing little carbon. QtubIronPillarJPG|thumb|right| Iron pillar at Delhi India containing 98% wrought iron]] Wrought iron is commercially pure Iron.

Europe

Further information: Iron Age Europe and Noric steel

Axe made of iron, dating from Swedish Iron Age, found at Gotland, Sweden. This article is about the archaeological period known as the Iron Age for the mythological Iron Age see Ages of Man. Noric steel, Steel produced in ancient Noricum, was famous in the Roman Empire period The axe, or ax, is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape split and cut Wood, Harvest timber, as a Weapon This article is about the archaeological period known as the Iron Age for the mythological Iron Age see Ages of Man. is a county, province and municipality of Sweden and the largest Island in the Baltic Sea. "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation.

Ironworking is first introduced to Central Europe in Hallstatt C (8th century BC). The Hallstatt culture was the predominant The 8th century BC started the first day of 800 BC and ended the last day of 701 BC. Throughout the 7th to 6th centuries, iron artefacts remain luxury items reserved for an elite. This changes dramatically shortly after 500 BC with the rise of the La Tène culture, from which time iron metallurgy also becomes common in Northern Europe and Britain. The La Tène culture was a European Iron Age culture named after the archaeological site The Iron Age in Scandinavia and Northern Europe begins around 500 BC with the Jastorf culture, and is taken to last until ca In Britain and Ireland the Iron Age lasted from about the 7th century BC until the Roman conquest and until the 5th century in non- Romanised The spread of ironworking in Central and Western Europe is associated with Celtic expansion. Celts (ˈkɛlts or /ˈsɛlts/, see Names of the Celts By the 1st century BC, Noric steel was famous for its quality and sought-after by the Roman military. Noric steel, Steel produced in ancient Noricum, was famous in the Roman Empire period Commonwealth English! -->The military of ancient Rome relates to the combined military forces of Ancient Rome from the founding of the city

India

Main article: History of metallurgy in the Indian subcontinent

The Delhi iron pillar is an example of the iron extraction and processing methodologies of India. HyderAlijpg|thumb|200px|right| Hyder Ali (c 1722-1782—the ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore till 1782—developed military rockets using metal cylinders to contain the combustion The iron pillar of Delhi, India, located in the Qutb complex, is an important testimony of the History of metallurgy in the Indian subcontinent The iron pillar at Delhi has withstood corrosion for the last 1600 years.

Archaeological sites in India, such as Malhar, Dadupur, Raja Nala Ka Tila and Lahuradewa in present day Uttar Pradesh show iron implements in the period between 1800 BC - 1200 BC. Malhar is the intercollegiate youth festival conducted by the students of St Uttar Pradesh (उत्तर प्रदेश اتر پردیش pronounced, Translation: Northern Province) referred to as '''U The 18th century BC was the Century which lasted from 1800 BC to 1701 BC ^[14] Early iron objects found in India can be dated to 1400 BC by employing the method of radio carbon dating. Spikes, knives, daggers, arrow-heads, bowls, spoons, saucepans, axes, chisels, tongs, door fittings etc. A knife is a handheld sharp-edged instrument consisting of handle attached to a Blade used for cutting A dagger (from Vulgar Latin: 'daca' - a Dacian Knife) is a typically double-edged blade used for Stabbing or thrusting An arrow is a pointed Projectile that is shot with a bow. It predates recorded history and is common to most Cultures. A spoon is a Utensil consisting of a small shallow bowl at the end of a handle used primarily for serving and eating Liquid, or semi-liquid foods and solid foods "Saucepan" redirects here In Australia "the Saucepan" is sometimes used as an unofficial name for part of the constellation of Pavo, when finding the The axe, or ax, is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape split and cut Wood, Harvest timber, as a Weapon A chisel is a Tool with a characteristically shaped Cutting edge (such that wood chisels have lent part of their name to a particular grind) of blade on ranging from 600 BC to 200 BC have been discovered from several archaeological sites of India. Events By place Seleucid Empire Antiochus III's forces continue their invasion of Coele Syria and Palestine. ^[15] Some scholars believe that by the early 13th century BC, iron smelting was practiced on a bigger scale in India, suggesting that the date the technology's inception may be placed earlier. ^[14] In Southern India (present day Mysore) iron appeared as early as 11th to 12th centuries BC; these developments were too early for any significant close contact with the northwest of the country. South India is the area encompassing India 's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union Mysore (maɪˈsɔɚ in English; renamed to Mysuru|ಮೈಸೂರು) (ಮೈಸೂರು is the second largest city in the state of Karnataka, India ^[16]

The beginning of the 1st millennium BC saw extensive developments in iron metallurgy in India. The 1st millennium BC encompasses the Iron Age and sees the rise of successive empires India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Technological advancement and mastery of iron metallurgy was achieved during this period of peaceful settlements. ^[16] The coming years saw several advancements being made to the technology involved in metallurgy during the politically stable Maurya period. The Maurya Empire ( 322 – 185 BCE) ruled by the Mauryan dynasty was a geographically extensive and powerful political and military ^[17]

Greek historian Herodotus wrote the first western account of the use of iron in India. Greece (Ελλάδα transliterated: Elláda, historically, Ellás,) officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία Herodotus of Halicarnassus ( Greek: Hēródotos Halikarnāsseús) was a Greek Historian who lived in the 5th century BC ( 484 BC&ndash ^[15] The Indian mythological texts, the Upnishads, have mentions of weaving, pottery, and metallurgy as well. The Upanishads ( Devanagari: उपनिषद् IAST: upaniṣad also spelled "Upanisad" are Hindu scriptures that constitute the core teachings ^[18]

Dagger and its scabbard, India, 17th–18th century. Blade: Damascus steel inlaid with gold; hilt: jade; scabbard: steel with engraved, chased and gilded decoration. Damascus steel is a hot- forged Steel used in Middle Eastern Swordmaking from about 1100 to 1700 AD

Perhaps as early as 300 BC, although certainly by AD 200, high quality steel was being produced in southern India also by what Europeans would later call the crucible technique. Events By place Egypt Pyrrhus, the King of Epirus, is taken as a hostage to Egypt after the Battle of Ipsus Events By Place World Human population reaches about 257 million Crucible steel describes a number of different techniques for making Steel Alloy by slowly heating and cooling pure Iron and Carbon (typically In this system, high-purity wrought iron, charcoal, and glass were mixed in a crucible and heated until the iron melted and absorbed the carbon. ^[19] Iron chain was used in Indian suspension bridges as early as the 4th century. This article is concerned with a particular type of suspension bridge the suspended-deck type As a means of recording the passage of Time, the 4th century (per the Julian calendar and Anno Domini / Common era) was that Century ^[20]

Wootz steel was produced in India and Sri Lanka from around 300 BC. Wootz is a Steel characterized by a pattern of bands or sheets of micro Carbides within a tempered Martensite or Pearlite matrix Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka ( Sinhalese:, இலங்கை known as Ceylon before 1972 is an Island This early steel-making method employed the use of a wind furnace, blown by the monsoon winds. ^[19] Also known as Damascus steel, wootz is famous for its durability and ability to hold an edge. Damascus steel is a hot- forged Steel used in Middle Eastern Swordmaking from about 1100 to 1700 AD It was originally created from a number of different materials including various trace elements. In Analytical chemistry, a trace element is an element in a sample that has an average Concentration of less than 100 Parts per million atoms It was essentially a complicated alloy with iron as its main component. Recent studies have suggested that carbon nanotubes were included in its structure, which might explain some of its legendary qualities, though given the technology available at that time, they were probably produced more by chance than by design. See also Graphene, Buckypaper Carbon nanotubes (CNTs are Allotropes of carbon with a nanostructure that can have a length-to-diameter ^[21]

The iron pillar of Delhi, the capital city of India, is one of the world's foremost metallurgical curiosities, standing in the famous Qutb complex. The iron pillar of Delhi, India, located in the Qutb complex, is an important testimony of the History of metallurgy in the Indian subcontinent Delhi (दिल्ली ਦਿੱਲੀ دلی d̪ɪlːiː sometimes referred to as Dilli) is the second largest metropolis of India, with a population India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country The Qutab complex, also spelled Qutb or Qutub, is an array of monuments and buildings at Mehrauli in Delhi, India, the most famous The pillar—almost seven meters high and weighing more than six tonnes—was erected by Chandragupta II Vikramaditya. Chandragupta II (very often referred to as Vikramaditya or Chandragupta Vikramaditya) was one of the most powerful emperors of the Gupta empire ^[22] The pillar is made up of 98% wrought iron of pure quality, and is a testament to the high level of skill achieved by ancient Indian iron smiths in the extraction and processing of iron. QtubIronPillarJPG|thumb|right| Iron pillar at Delhi India containing 98% wrought iron]] Wrought iron is commercially pure Iron. It has attracted the attention of archaeologists and metallurgists as it has withstood corrosion for the last 1600 years, despite harsh weather. Archaeology, archeology, or archæology (from Greek grc ἀρχαιολογία archaiologia – grc ἀρχαῖος archaīos Metallurgy is a domain of Materials science that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds, and their Corrosion means the breaking down of essential properties in a material due to Chemical reactions with its surroundings

Historians of metallurgy hold that Indian iron smelters had acquired an advanced and precise knowledge about the production of iron and steel, and the related details including the thermo-mechanical aspects and heat treatment. The Indians developed wootz, which was popular in international markets. The Dutch carried wootz from South India to Europe, where it subsequently spread through mass production. The Dutch Empire was the territories controlled by The Netherlands from the 17th to the 20th century ^[23]

Will Durant wrote in The Story of Civilization I: Our Oriental Heritage:

China

Early developments

The puddling process of smelting iron ore to make pig iron from wrought iron, with the right illustration displaying men working a blast furnace, from the Tiangong Kaiwu encyclopedia, 1637. Iron (ˈаɪɚn is a Chemical element with the symbol Fe (ferrum and Atomic number 26 An ore is a volume of rock containing components or Minerals in a mode of occurrence that renders it valuable for mining Pig iron is the intermediate product of Smelting Iron ore with coke, usually with Limestone as a flux QtubIronPillarJPG|thumb|right| Iron pillar at Delhi India containing 98% wrought iron]] Wrought iron is commercially pure Iron. A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical Furnace used for Smelting to produce metals generally Iron. Song Yingxing ( Traditional Chinese:宋應星 Simplified Chinese:宋应星 Wade Giles: Sung Ying-Hsing; 1587-1666 AD was a Chinese

Archaeologists and historians debate whether bloomery-based ironworking ever spread to China from the Middle East. Around 500 BC, however, metalworkers in the southern state of Wu developed an iron smelting technology that would not be practiced in Europe until late medieval times. Wu (吳 was a state during the Spring and Autumn Period in China. In Wu, iron smelters achieved a temperature of 1130°C, hot enough to be considered a blast furnace which could create cast iron. A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical Furnace used for Smelting to produce metals generally Iron. ^[24][25][26] At this temperature, iron combines with 4. 3% carbon and melts. As a liquid, iron can be cast into molds, a method far less laborious than individually forging each piece of iron from a bloom. Casting is a manufacturing process by which a liquid material is (usually poured into a mold which Molding is the process of Manufacturing by shaping pliable raw material using a rigid frame or model called a pattern.

Cast iron is rather brittle and unsuitable for striking implements. It can, however, be decarburized to steel or wrought iron by heating it in air for several days. In China, these ironworking methods spread northward, and by 300 BC, iron was the material of choice throughout China for most tools and weapons. Events By place Egypt Pyrrhus, the King of Epirus, is taken as a hostage to Egypt after the Battle of Ipsus A mass grave in Hebei province, dated to the early third century BC, contains several soldiers buried with their weapons and other equipment. ( Postal map spelling: Hopeh) is a northern province of the People's Republic of China. The artifacts recovered from this grave are variously made of wrought iron, cast iron, malleabilized cast iron, and quench-hardened steel, with only a few, probably ornamental, bronze weapons.

During the Han Dynasty (202 BC–AD 220), Chinese ironworking achieved a scale and sophistication not reached in the West until the eighteenth century. The Han Dynasty ( 206 BC–220 AD followed the Qin Dynasty and preceded the Three Kingdoms in China. Events By place Carthage Accused of treason by the Carthaginians after being defeated by the Romans at the Battle of the Events By Place Roman Empire The Goths invade Asia Minor and the Balkans. In the first century, the Han government established ironworking as a state monopoly and built a series of large blast furnaces in Henan province, each capable of producing several tons of iron per day. Henan ( is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the central part of the country By this time, Chinese metallurgists had discovered how to puddle molten pig iron, stirring it in the open air until it lost its carbon and became wrought iron. Puddling was an Industrial Revolution means of making iron and Steel. (In Chinese, the process was called chao, literally, stir frying. Stir frying is an Umbrella term used to describe two fast Chinese cooking techniques chǎo ( 炒) and bào ( 爆) ) By the 1st century BC, Chinese metallurgists had found that wrought iron and cast iron could be melted together to yield an alloy of intermediate carbon content, that is, steel. Steel is an Alloy consisting mostly of Iron, with a Carbon content between 0 ^[27][28][29] According to legend, the sword of Liu Bang, the first Han emperor, was made in this fashion. Early life Liú Bāng was born into a lower class farming family in Pei (present Pei County in Jiangsu Province) Some texts of the era mention "harmonizing the hard and the soft" in the context of ironworking; the phrase may refer to this process. Also, the ancient city of Wan (Nanyang) from the Han period forward was a major center of the iron and steel industry. ^[30] Along with their original methods of forging steel, the Chinese had also adopted the production methods of creating Wootz steel, an idea imported from India to China by the 5th century AD. Wootz is a Steel characterized by a pattern of bands or sheets of micro Carbides within a tempered Martensite or Pearlite matrix India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country ^[31]

Chinese Water-Powered Bellows

An illustration of furnace bellows operated by waterwheels, from the Nong Shu, by Wang Zhen, 1313 AD, during the Yuan Dynasty in China. This article is about Wang Zhen agronomist and inventor For other historical figures with this name see Wang Zhen (disambiguation. The Yuan Dynasty ( Pinyin: Yuáncháo Dai Ön Ulus (Дай Юан Улс was a ruling Dynasty founded by the Mongol leader Kublai

The Chinese during the ancient Han Dynasty were also the first to apply hydraulic power (ie. For the mechanical technology see Hydraulic machinery and Hydraulic cylinder Hydraulics is a topic of science and Engineering a waterwheel) in working the inflatable bellows of the blast furnace. A water wheel is a means of extracting power from the flow (or fall of water otherwise known as Hydropower. This was recorded in the year 31 AD, an innovation of the engineer Du Shi, Prefect of Nanyang. An engineer is a person professionally engaged in a field of Engineering. Du Shi ( d 38 was a Chinese governmental Prefect of Nanyang in 31 AD and a mechanical Engineer of the Eastern Han Dynasty in Ancient Prefect (from the Latin praefectus, perfect participle of praeficere: "make in front" i ^[32] After Du Shi, Chinese in subsequent dynastic periods continued the use of water power to operate the bellows of the blast furnace. In the 5th century text of the Wu Chang Ji, its author Pi Ling wrote that a planned, artificial lake had been constructed in the Yuan-Jia reign period (424–429) for the sole purpose of powering water wheels aiding the smelting and casting processes of the Chinese iron industry. Events By Place Eastern Roman Empire Future Emperor Valentinian III is appointed Caesar. Events By Place Western Roman Empire Vandals under Geiseric cross from the Iberian Peninsula ^[33] The 5th century text Shui Jing Zhu mentions the use of rushing river water to power waterwheels, as does the Tang Dynasty geography text of the Yuan-he Jun Xian Tu Chi, written in 814 AD. The Tang Dynasty ( Middle Chinese: dhɑng (June 18 618&ndashJune 4 907 was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by ^[34]

In the 11th century, there is evidence of the production of steel in Song China using two techniques: a "berganesque" method that produced inferior, inhomogoneous steel and a precursor to the modern Bessemer process that utilized partial decarbonization via repeated forging under a cold blast. The Song Dynasty ( Wade-Giles: Sung Ch'ao was a ruling dynasty in China between 960&ndash1279 CE it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms ^[35] By the 11th century, there was also a large amount of deforestation in China due to the iron industry's demands for charcoal. Charcoal' is the blackish residue consisting of impure Carbon obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from Animal and Vegetation ^[36] However, by this time the Chinese had figured out how to use bituminous coke to replace the use of charcoal, and with this switch in resources many acres of prime timberland in China were spared. Coke is a solid Carbonaceous material derived from Destructive distillation of low-ash low-sulfur Bituminous coal. ^[36] This switch in resources from charcoal to coal was later used in Europe by the 17th century.

Although Du Shi was the first to apply water power to bellows in metallurgy, the first drawn and printed illustration of its operation with water power came in 1313 AD, in the Yuan Dynasty era text called the Nong Shu. The Yuan Dynasty ( Pinyin: Yuáncháo Dai Ön Ulus (Дай Юан Улс was a ruling Dynasty founded by the Mongol leader Kublai ^[37] The text was written by Wang Zhen (fl. This article is about Wang Zhen agronomist and inventor For other historical figures with this name see Wang Zhen (disambiguation. 1290-1333 AD), who explained the methods used for the water-powered blast-furnace in previous times and in his era of the 14th century:

Medieval to Modern Europe

Ironmaking described in "The Popular Encyclopedia" vol. VII, published 1894

There was no fundamental change in the technology of iron production in Europe for many centuries. Year 1894 ( MDCCCXCIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Iron continued to be made in bloomeries. A bloomery is a type of Furnace once widely used for Smelting Iron from its oxides. However there were two separate developments in the Medieval period. One was the application of water power to the bloomery process in various places (as outlined above). A bloomery is a type of Furnace once widely used for Smelting Iron from its oxides. The other was the first European production in cast iron.

Development of Water-powered bloomeries

Main article: Bloomery

Sometime in the medieval period, water power was applied to the bloomery process. A bloomery is a type of Furnace once widely used for Smelting Iron from its oxides. A bloomery is a type of Furnace once widely used for Smelting Iron from its oxides. It is possible that this was at the Cistercian Abbey of Clairvaux as early as 1135, but it was certainly in use in France by the early 13th century there and in Sweden. Clairvaux Abbey ( Clara Vallis in Latin a Cistercian Monastery, was founded in 1115 by St This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. ^[39] In England, the first clear documentary evidence for this is the accounts of a forge of the Bishop of Durham, near Bedburn in 1408,^[40] but that was certainly not the first such ironworks. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland See also List of Bishops of Durham The Bishop of Durham is the Anglican Bishop responsible for the Diocese of Durham in Bedburn is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated near Hamsterley and Hamsterley Forest, and the River Wear. In the Furness district of England, powered bloomeries were in use into the beginning of the 18th century, and near Garstang until about 1770. Furness (ˈfɘˑnəs is a Peninsula in the southern part of Cumbria, in north-west England. The 18th century lasted from 1701 to 1800 in the Gregorian calendar, in accordance with the Anno Domini / Common Era numbering system Garstang is a town parish within the Wyre borough of Lancashire, England. Year 1770 ( MDCCLXX) was a Common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting on Friday

The Catalan Forge was a variety of powered bloomery. Bloomeries with hot blast were used in upstate New York in the mid 19th century. Hot blast refers to the preheating of air blown into a Blast furnace or other metallurgical process New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous The 19th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1801 and ended on December 31, 1900, according to the Gregorian calendar

The first blast furnaces in Europe

Cast iron development lagged in Europe, as the smelters could only achieve temperatures of about 1000 C; or perhaps they did not want hotter temperatures, as they were seeking to produce blooms as a precursor of wrought iron, not cast iron. QtubIronPillarJPG|thumb|right| Iron pillar at Delhi India containing 98% wrought iron]] Wrought iron is commercially pure Iron. Cast iron usually refers to grey cast iron, but identifies a large group of Ferrous Alloys which solidify with a Eutectic. Through a good portion of the Middle Ages, in Western Europe, iron was thus still being made by the working of iron blooms into wrought iron. Some of the earliest casting of iron in Europe occurred in Sweden, in two sites, Lapphyttan and Vinarhyttan, between 1150 and 1350 CE. "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. Lapphyttan in Norberg, Sweden, may be regarded as the Type site for the Medieval Blast Furnace. Some scholars have speculated the practice followed the Mongols across Russia to these sites, but there is no clear proof of this hypothesis, and it would certainly not explain the pre-mongol datings of many of these iron-production centres. Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending In any event, by the late fourteenth century, a market for cast iron goods began to form, as a demand developed for cast iron cannonballs.

Osmond iron

Main article: osmond iron

Iron from furnaces such as Lapphyttan was refined into wrought iron by the osmond process. Osmond iron (also spelt osmund and also called osborn was Wrought iron made by a particular process Lapphyttan in Norberg, Sweden, may be regarded as the Type site for the Medieval Blast Furnace. QtubIronPillarJPG|thumb|right| Iron pillar at Delhi India containing 98% wrought iron]] Wrought iron is commercially pure Iron. Osmond iron (also spelt osmund and also called osborn was Wrought iron made by a particular process The pig iron from the furnace was melted in front of a blast of air and the droplets caught on a staff (which was spun). Pig iron is the intermediate product of Smelting Iron ore with coke, usually with Limestone as a flux This formed a ball of iron, known as an osmond. This was probably a traded commodity by c. 1200.

Finery process

Main article: Finery forge

An alternative method of decarburising pig iron seems to have been devised in the region around Namur in the 15th century. Iron tapped from the Blast furnace is Pig iron, and contains significant amounts of Carbon and Silicon. Namur ( Namen in Dutch, Nameur in Walloon, Namurcum in Latin) is a City and municipality in This Walloon process spread by the end of that century to the Pay de Bray on the eastern boundary of Normandy before the end of that century, and to then to England, where it became the main method of making wrought iron by 1600. Wallonia, or Wallonie, (Wallonie Wallonien Wallonië Waloneye is the Meridional part of Belgium belonging to the Romance linguistic field Normandy (Normandie Norman: Normaundie) is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland QtubIronPillarJPG|thumb|right| Iron pillar at Delhi India containing 98% wrought iron]] Wrought iron is commercially pure Iron. It was introduced to Sweden by Louis de Geer in the early 17th century and was used to make the oregrounds iron favoured by English steelmakers. As a means of recording the passage of Time, the 17th Century was that Century which lasted from 1601 - 1700 in the Gregorian calendar The English term Oregrounds iron takes its name from the small Swedish city of Öregrund.

A variation on this was the German process. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. This became the main method of producing bar iron in Sweden. QtubIronPillarJPG|thumb|right| Iron pillar at Delhi India containing 98% wrought iron]] Wrought iron is commercially pure Iron. "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation.

Steelmaking in early modern Europe

Main article: cementation process

In the early 17th century, ironworkers in Western Europe had found a means (called cementation) to carburize wrought iron. The cementation process is an obsolete technique for making Steel by Carburization of Iron. As a means of recording the passage of Time, the 17th Century was that Century which lasted from 1601 - 1700 in the Gregorian calendar Wrought iron bars and charcoal were packed into stone boxes, then held at a red heat for up to a week. During this time, carbon diffused into the iron, producing a product called cement steel or blister steel (see cementation process). The cementation process is an obsolete technique for making Steel by Carburization of Iron. One of the earliest places where this was used in England was at Coalbrookdale, where Sir Basil Brooke had two cementation furnaces (recently excavated). Coalbrookdale is a side valley of the Ironbridge Gorge in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England For a time in the 1610s, he owned a patent on the process, but had to surrender this in 1619. He probably used Forest of Dean iron as his raw material, but it was soon found that oregrounds iron was more suitable. The Forest of Dean is a geographical historical and cultural region in the western part of the County of Gloucestershire, England The English term Oregrounds iron takes its name from the small Swedish city of Öregrund.

Main article: crucible steel

The quality of the steel could be improved by faggoting, producing shear steel. Crucible steel describes a number of different techniques for making Steel Alloy by slowly heating and cooling pure Iron and Carbon (typically Faggoting or faggoting and folding is a Metalworking technique used in the smelting and forging of Wrought iron, Damascus steel However in the 1740s, Benjamin Huntsman found a means of melting blister steel, made by the cementation process in crucibles; this was cast usually as ingots as crucible steel. Events and trends Frederick II ascends the throne of Prussia, upon the death of his father " Frederick William I of Prussia " Benjamin Huntsman ( 4 June 1704 – 20 June 1776) was an English inventor and manufacturer of Crucible steel. The cementation process is an obsolete technique for making Steel by Carburization of Iron. Crucible steel describes a number of different techniques for making Steel Alloy by slowly heating and cooling pure Iron and Carbon (typically This is more homogeneous than blister steel.

The transition to coke in England

Beginnings

Early iron smelting used charcoal as both the heat source and the reducing agent. Chemical reduction, or smelting, is a form of Extractive metallurgy. Charcoal' is the blackish residue consisting of impure Carbon obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from Animal and Vegetation By the 18th century, the availability of wood for making charcoal was limiting the expansion of iron production, so that England became increasingly dependent for a considerable part of the iron required by its industry, on Sweden (from the mid 17th century) and then from about 1725 also on Russia. Charcoal' is the blackish residue consisting of impure Carbon obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from Animal and Vegetation "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. As a means of recording the passage of Time, the 17th Century was that Century which lasted from 1601 - 1700 in the Gregorian calendar Year 1725 ( MDCCXXV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending ^[41]

Smelting with coal (or its derivative coke) was a long sought objective. Coke is a solid Carbonaceous material derived from Destructive distillation of low-ash low-sulfur Bituminous coal. The production of pig iron with coke was probably achieved by Dud Dudley in the 1620s, and with a mixed fuel made from coal and wood again in the 1670s. Dudd (Dud Dudley (1600 &ndash 1684 was an English metallurgist who fought on the Royalist side in the English Civil War as a soldier military engineer and supplier However this was probably only a technological rather than a commercial success. Shadrach Fox may have smelted iron with coke at Coalbrookdale in Shropshire in the 1690s, but only to make cannon balls and other cast iron products such as shells. Shadrach Fox was the Ironmaster who preceded Abraham Darby at Coalbrookdale. Coalbrookdale is a side valley of the Ironbridge Gorge in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England Shropshire (ˈʃrɒpʃɪə/ /-ʃə alternatively known as Salop or abbreviated in print only Shrops, is a county in the Cast iron usually refers to grey cast iron, but identifies a large group of Ferrous Alloys which solidify with a Eutectic. However, in the peace after the Nine Years War, there was no demand for these. The Nine Years' War (1688–97 – often called the War of the Grand Alliance or the War of the League of Augsburg – was a major war of the late 17th ^[42]

Abraham Darby and his successors

Main article: Abraham Darby I

In 1707, Abraham Darby patented a method of making cast iron pots. Abraham Darby ( April 14, 1678 &ndash May 5, 1717) was the first and most famous of three generations with that name in an Year 1707 ( MDCCVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Abraham Darby ( April 14, 1678 &ndash May 5, 1717) was the first and most famous of three generations with that name in an His pots were thinner and hence cheaper than those of his rivals. Needing a larger supply of pig iron he leased the blast furnace at Coalbrookdale in 1709. Pig iron is the intermediate product of Smelting Iron ore with coke, usually with Limestone as a flux A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical Furnace used for Smelting to produce metals generally Iron. Coalbrookdale is a side valley of the Ironbridge Gorge in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England There, he made iron using coke, thus establishing the first successful business in Europe to do so. Coke is a solid Carbonaceous material derived from Destructive distillation of low-ash low-sulfur Bituminous coal. His products were all of cast iron, though his immediate successors attempted (with little commercial success) to fine this to bar iron. Cast iron usually refers to grey cast iron, but identifies a large group of Ferrous Alloys which solidify with a Eutectic. ^[43]

Bar iron thus continued normally to be made with charcoal pig iron until the mid 1750s. QtubIronPillarJPG|thumb|right| Iron pillar at Delhi India containing 98% wrought iron]] Wrought iron is commercially pure Iron. Pig iron is the intermediate product of Smelting Iron ore with coke, usually with Limestone as a flux Events and Trends Scientific Navigation is developed The Seven Years' War ( 1756 - 1763) fought between two rival alliances In 1755 Abraham Darby II (with partners) opened a new coke-using furnace at Horsehay in Shropshire, and this was followed by others. Year 1755 ( MDCCLV) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or Abraham Darby II (1711 &ndash 1763 was the second Abraham Darby in three generations of an English Quaker family that played a role in the Industrial Revolution Horsehay is a village on the western outskirts of Dawley, which along with several other towns and villages now forms part of the New town of Telford Shropshire (ˈʃrɒpʃɪə/ /-ʃə alternatively known as Salop or abbreviated in print only Shrops, is a county in the These supplied coke pig iron to finery forges of the traditional kind for the production of bar iron. Pig iron is the intermediate product of Smelting Iron ore with coke, usually with Limestone as a flux Iron tapped from the Blast furnace is Pig iron, and contains significant amounts of Carbon and Silicon. QtubIronPillarJPG|thumb|right| Iron pillar at Delhi India containing 98% wrought iron]] Wrought iron is commercially pure Iron. The reason for the delay remains controversial. ^[44]

New forge processes

Schematic drawing of a puddling furnace.

It was only after this that economically viable means of converting pig iron to bar iron began to be devised. Pig iron is the intermediate product of Smelting Iron ore with coke, usually with Limestone as a flux A process known as potting and stamping was devised in the 1760s and improved in the 1770s, and seems to have been widely adopted in the West Midlands from about 1785. This article is mainly about the English Midlands For other uses see Midlands (disambiguation. Year 1785 ( MDCCLXXXV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common However, this was largely replaced by Henry Cort's puddling process, patented in 1784, but probably only made to work with grey pig iron in about 1790. Henry Cort (1740 &ndash May 23 1800) was an English Ironmaster. Puddling was an Industrial Revolution means of making iron and Steel. Year 1784 ( MDCCLXXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Pig iron is the intermediate product of Smelting Iron ore with coke, usually with Limestone as a flux Year 1790 ( MDCCXC) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year These processes permitted the great expansion in the production of iron that constitutes the Industrial Revolution for the iron industry. The Industrial Revolution was a period in the late 18th and early 19th centuries when major changes in agriculture manufacturing and transportation had a profound effect on the ^[45]

In the early 19th century, Hall discovered that the addition of iron oxide to the charge of the puddling furnace caused a violent reaction, in which the pig iron was decarburised, this became known as 'wet puddling'. Decarburization is the process opposite to Carburization, namely aimed at decreasing the content of Carbon in Metals (usually Steel) It was also found possible to produce steel by stopping the puddling process before decarburisation was complete. Puddling was an Industrial Revolution means of making iron and Steel.

Hot blast

Main article: Hot blast

The efficiency of the blast furnace was improved by the change to hot blast, patented by James Beaumont Neilson in Scotland in 1828. Hot blast refers to the preheating of air blown into a Blast furnace or other metallurgical process A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical Furnace used for Smelting to produce metals generally Iron. Hot blast refers to the preheating of air blown into a Blast furnace or other metallurgical process James Beaumont Neilson ( June 22, 1792 &ndash January 18, 1865) is a Scottish Inventor whose hot-blast process The year 1828 ( MDCCCXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap This further reduced production costs. Within a few decades, the practice was to have a 'stove' as large as the furnace next to it into which the waste gas (containing CO) from the furnace was directed and burnt. The resultant heat was used to preheat the air blown into the furnace. ^[46]

Industrial steelmaking

Schematic drawing of a Bessemer converter

Apart from some production of puddled steel, English steel continued to be made by the cementation process, sometimes followed by remelting to produce crucible steel. The cementation process is an obsolete technique for making Steel by Carburization of Iron. Crucible steel describes a number of different techniques for making Steel Alloy by slowly heating and cooling pure Iron and Carbon (typically These were batch-based processes whose raw material was bar iron, particularly Swedish oregrounds iron. "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. The English term Oregrounds iron takes its name from the small Swedish city of Öregrund.

The problem of mass-producing cheap steel was solved in 1855 by Henry Bessemer, with the introduction of the Bessemer converter at his steelworks in Sheffield, England. Year 1855 ( MDCCCLV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common year Sir Henry Bessemer ( January 19, 1813 – March 15, 1898) English Engineer and Inventor. The Bessemer process was the first inexpensive Industrial process for the mass-production of Steel from molten Pig iron. Sheffield ( is a city and Metropolitan borough in South Yorkshire, England England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland (An early converter can still be seen at the city's Kelham Island Museum). The Kelham Island Museum is an industrial museum on Alma Street alongside the River Don, in the centre of The City of Sheffield, England. In the Bessemer process, molten pig iron from the blast furnace was charged into a large crucible, and then air was blown through the molten iron from below, igniting the dissolved carbon from the coke. Coke is a solid Carbonaceous material derived from Destructive distillation of low-ash low-sulfur Bituminous coal. As the carbon burned off, the melting point of the mixture increased, but the heat from the burning carbon provided the extra energy needed to keep the mixture molten. After the carbon content in the melt had dropped to the desired level, the air draft was cut off: a typical Bessemer converter could convert a 25-ton batch of pig iron to steel in half an hour.

Finally, the basic oxygen process was introduced at the Voest-Alpine works in 1952; a modification of the basic Bessemer process, it lances oxygen from above the steel (instead of bubbling air from below), reducing the amount of nitrogen uptake into the steel. Basic oxygen steelmaking ( BOS BOF Linz-Donawitz-Verfahren LD-converter) is a method of Steelmaking in which carbon-rich molten iron is made into Steel The basic oxygen process is used in all modern steelworks; the last Bessemer converter in the U. S. was retired in 1968. Furthermore, the last three decades have seen a massive increase in the mini-mill business, where scrap steel only is melted with an electric arc furnace. An electric arc furnace (EAF is a Furnace that heats charged material by means of an Electric arc. These mills only produced bar products at first, but have since expanded into flat and heavy products, once the exclusive domain of the integrated steelworks.

Until these 19th century developments, steel was an expensive commodity and only used for a limited number of purposes where a particularly hard or flexible metal was needed, as in the cutting edges of tools and springs. The 19th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1801 and ended on December 31, 1900, according to the Gregorian calendar The widespread availability of inexpensive steel powered the Second Industrial Revolution and modern society as we know it. The Second Industrial Revolution, typically dated between 1870 and 1914 was a second phase of the Industrial Revolution, involving several developments within the chemical Mild steel ultimately replaced wrought iron for almost all purposes, and wrought iron is no longer commercially produced. QtubIronPillarJPG|thumb|right| Iron pillar at Delhi India containing 98% wrought iron]] Wrought iron is commercially pure Iron. QtubIronPillarJPG|thumb|right| Iron pillar at Delhi India containing 98% wrought iron]] Wrought iron is commercially pure Iron. With minor exceptions, alloy steels only began to be made in the late 19th century. Stainless steel was developed on the eve of the First World War and was not widely used until the 1920s. In Metallurgy, stainless steel is defined as a Steel Alloy with a minimum of 11 World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All The 1920s is sometimes referred to as the " Jazz Age " or the " Roaring Twenties " when speaking about the United States and Canada

See also

• History of steelmaking
• Iron Age

Notes

References

• Ebrey, Walthall, Palais, (2006). East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.
• Needham, Joseph (1986). Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Part 2. Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd.
• Needham, Joseph (1986). Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Part 3. Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd.
• Pleiner, R. (2000) Iron in Archaeology. The European Bloomery Smelters, Praha, Archeologický Ústav Av Cr.
• Wagner, Donald (1996). Iron and Steel in Ancient China. Leiden: E. J. Brill.
• Woods, Michael and Mary B. Woods (2000). Ancient Machines: From Wedges to Waterwheels. Minneapolis: Twenty-First Century Books.