Technology & Infrastructure in the 15th century

62 sourced entries, 1403 CE to 1499 CE, oldest first. Also see Technology & Infrastructure across every century or everything else in the 15th century.

• 1403A guild of stationers is founded in the City of London. As the Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers (the "Stationers' Company"), it continues to be a livery company in the 21st century.source
• 1403The Temple of a City God is constructed in Shanghai.source
• 1404March 1 – Under the Emperor Cheng Zu, China continues to build its fleet, ordering the construction of 50 new seagoing ships from the Capital Guards in Nanjing.source
• 1406Construction of the Forbidden City begins in Beijing during the Chinese Ming dynasty.source
• 1407Mateu Texidor finishes the Puente de la Trinidad bridge in Valencia, Spain.source
• 1407Unknown - Construction is completed on the Nyons Bridge over the River EyguesFrancesource
• 1408The Moldavian town of Iaşi is first mentioned.source
• 1410Construction begins on Castle Woerden in the Netherlands.source
• 1410Unknown – Construction is completed on the Château-Gaillard in VannesFrancesource
• 1411Under the reign of Emperor Cheng Zu of Ming China, work begins to reinstate the ancient Grand Canal of China, which fell into disuse and dilapidation during the previous Yuan dynasty. Between 1411 and 1415, a total of 165,000 laborers dredge the canal bed in Shandong, build new channels, embankments, and canal locks. Four large reservoirs in Shandong are also dug, in order to regulate water levels, instead of resorting to pumping water from local tables. A large dam is also constructed, to divert water from the Wen River southwest into the Grand Canal.source
• 1415The Grand Canal of China is reinstated by this year after it had fallen out of use; restoration began in 1411, and was a response by the Emperor Cheng Zu of the Ming Dynasty to improve the grain shipment system of tribute traveling from south to north, towards his new capital at Beijing. With this action, the food supply crisis is solved by the end of the year.source
• 1416The Trezzo sull'Adda Bridge (the longest arch bridge in the world at this time) is destroyed.source
• 1417October 31 – On Hallowtide, by order of the Lord May Henry Barton, street lighting is first used in London, with lanterns to be hung out on winter evenings, lasting until the night of Candlemas on February 2.source
• 1420October 22 – Ghiyāth al-dīn Naqqāsh, an envoy of the embassy sent by the Timurid ruler of Persia, Shah Rukh (r. 1404–1447), to the Ming dynasty of China during the reign of the Yongle Emperor (r. 1402–1424), records his sight and travel over a large floating pontoon bridge at Lanzhou (constructed in 1372) as he crosses the Yellow River on this day. He writes that it was: "...composed of twenty three boats, of great excellence and strength attached together by a long chain of iron as thick as a man's thigh, and this was moored on each side to an iron post as thick as a man's waist extending a distance of ten cubits on the land and planted firmly in the ground, the boats being fastened to this chain by means of big hooks. There were placed big wooden planks over the boats so firmly and evenly that all the animals were made to pass over it without difficulty."source
• 1421The first patent is issued by the Republic of Florence.source
• 1426Castello Orsini-Odescalchi is built in Bracciano, Italy by the Orsini family.source
• 1428March 25 – China's Emperor Xuanzong of Ming directs Admiral Zheng He to oversee the rebuilding of the Porcelain Tower of Nanjing. The construction of the temple was completed in 1431.source
• 1429A series of seven customs offices and barriers are installed along the Grand Canal of China, during the reign of the Ming Dynasty's Yongle Emperor.source
• 1429Henry VI gives a £10 subsidy for building a small castle in 10 years. These later became the Irish Tower Houses. By 1515, there would be more than 500 of these Tower Houses.Irelandsource
• 1430Inch Castle on the southern tip of Inch Island in County Donegal was constructed.Irelandsource
• 1434July 10– In the Kingdom of León in Spain, Suero de Quiñones and his companions stage the Passo Honroso, at the bridge across the Órbigo River near Santiago de Compostela. Any knight attempting to cross the bridge is challenged to a joust by the Quiñones knights. The challenge continues for the next 30 days.source
• 1436Johannes Gutenberg begins work on the printing press.source
• 1436The Bosnian language is first mentioned in a document.source
• 1439Earliest likely date for Johannes Gutenberg's development of printing with movable type at Mainz.source
• 1442The community of Rauma, Finland is granted its town rights.source
• 1443October 22 – Pedro de Portugal, Duke of Coimbra and regent for the 11-year old King Afonso V, grants letters patent to his younger brother Dom Henrique of Navegador ("Prince Henry the Navigator"), giving Henrique an exclusive monopoly over all navigation south of Cape Bojador, whether for the purpose of war or trade, as well as a commission on any African goods or slaves brought back to mainland Portugal.source
• 1446The Blarney Stone is set into a tower of Blarney Castle in Blarney, County Cork in Ireland.source
• 1446The Precious Belt Bridge in China is fully reconstructed.source
• 1446The construction of Blarney Castle is begun, near CorkIrelandsource
• 1448April 28 – The militia of francs-archers, the first regular infantry in France, is created by the ordonnance of Montil-lès-Tours during the reign of King Charles VII, directing that in each parish, the person most skilled in the use of archery would be exempt from certain obligations in return for perfecting his skills on a weekly basis and being ready to be summoned for combat.source
• 1450Johannes Gutenberg has set up his movable type printing press, as a commercial operation in Mainz, by this date.source
• 1454The press of Johannes Gutenberg (at Mainz on the Rhine) produces the first printed documents bearing a date.source
• 1455Unknown – Earliest known reference to knitting in England.Englandsource
• 1457Edo Castle is built by Ōta Dōkan in modern-day Tokyo.source
• 1465Massive flooding in central and southern China motivates the initial construction of hundreds of new bridges.source
• 1467October 17 – Choe Hang is appointed as the news prime minister (yonguijong) of Korea by the Emperor Sejo, succeeding Sim Hoe.source
• 1470The Irish Parliament authorised levies for the construction of towers at Readstown and Bellewstown in County Meath.Irelandsource
• 1471Date unknown – The Clos Lucé Palace is built by Hugues d'AmboiseFrancesource
• 1473Possible date – Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye is the first book to be printed in English, by William Caxton, in Bruges.source
• 1473The city walls and defensive moat are built in Celje, Slovenia.source
• 1474March 19 – The Senate of the Republic of Venice enacts the Venetian Patent Statute, one of the earliest patent systems in the world. New and inventive devices, once put into practice, have to be communicated to the Republic to obtain the right to prevent others from using them. This is considered the first modern patent system.source
• 1475Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye is the first book to be printed in English, by William Caxton in Bruges (or 1473–74?).source
• 1482May 25 – German printer Erhard Ratdolt creates the first printed edition of The Elements, originally written by the Greek mathematician Euclid around 300 BC and translated from ancient Greek into Latin by Campanus of Novara in the 13th century. The date for the printing of one of the most influential books in history is printed by Ratdolt on the title page.source
• 1484The first cuirassier units (kyrissers) are formed in Austria.source
• 1484The first sugar mill becomes operational in the Gran Canaria.source
• 1485From about this date, Leonardo da Vinci produces a number of designs for flying machines, including the aerial screw or helicopter (probably unworkable).source
• 1486The first written use of the word football is made to describe the ball itself.source
• 1487Italian architects work on the Moscow Kremlin.source
• 1489December 11 – Jeannetto de Tassis is appointed Chief Master of Postal Services in Innsbruck; his descendants, the Thurn und Taxis Family, later run much of the postal system of Europe.source
• 1489John Lynch becomes the fifth Mayor of GalwayIrelandsource
• 1490November – King Charles VIII orders the building of two ships (carracks),1000 tons each, as a counter to English ships being armed known as the "Regent" and the "Sovereign".Francesource
• 1490Regular postal service connects the Habsburg residences of Mechelen and Innsbruck, the first in Germany.source
• 1492The first arboretum to be designed and planted is the Arboretum Trsteno, near Dubrovnik in current-day Croatia.source
• 1492Russians build the Ivangorod Fortress, on the eastern banks of the Narva River.source
• 1492Stiegl brewery first recorded in Salzburg.source
• 1493Leonardo da Vinci creates the first known design for a helicopter.source
• 1493First recorded reference to the River Poddle in Dublin.Irelandsource
• 1495The oldest extant cable railway, the Reisszug, is created by order of the Archbishop Leonhard von Keutschach shortly after his election on July 7, 1495. The railway is used for the manual pulling of a wheeled cart up an incline, to provide goods for the Hohensalzburg Fortress, at Salzburg in Austria.source
• 1495Henry VII of England commissions the world's first dry dock, at Portsmouth.source
• 1496March 5 – Henry VII of England issues letters patent to Italian-born adventurer John Cabot and his sons, authorizing them to discover unknown lands.source
• 1498November 26 – Pope Alexander VI orders the demolition of the historic Meta Romuli pyramid in Rome in order to clear the way for the building of the new road to the Tiber Bridge.source
• 1499Construction begins on the Pale ditch surrounding Dublin.Irelandsource