Junks are sailing ships that were first invented in China during the classical period. Junks came to be popular during the productive years of the Song Dynasty and were used extensively for Chinese voyages in southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean.

Moveable type and printing were both invented first in China. Moveable type allows for the mass production of documents and was first invented in China in the eleventh century, during the Song Dynasty.

Gunpowder was invented in China in the ninth or tenth century. The discovery of gunpowder led to the invention of fireworks and to the invention of firearms. Eventually gunpowder would transform the military and societies of almost everywhere in the world.

Porcelain first emerged in China during the Han Dynasty. During the Tang Dynasty it was an extremely valuable commodity used to trade with Arab traders. By the time of the Ming Dynasty Chinese porcelain was being exported to Europe where it was extremely valuable.

A dhow is a traditional sailing vessel which employs lanteen sails. Dhows were (and are) common trading vessels used by Arab and Indian traders in the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean.

Gunpowder was invented in China in the ninth or tenth centuries, during the Song Dynasty, and was first introduced to Europe by the thirteenth century. Most historians believe that gunpowder was introduced to the Europeans by the forces of the Mongol empire at some point in the mid-thirteenth century. Gunpowder, and the introduction of firearm technology, would transform European society.

Muhammad al-Khwarizmi is most notable for his contributions to the development of algebra. He lived in the eighth and ninth centuries, during the Islamic Golden Age of the Abbasid Caliphate. Along with the ancient Greek, Diophantus, he is often credited as “the founder of algebra.”

Ibn Sina, sometimes also called Avicenna, lived during the Islamic Golden Age of the tenth and eleventh centuries. He is most notable for his contributions to medicine and philosophy, particularly for authoring The Book of Healing and The Canon of Medicine, which were widely influential in Arab and European society for several centuries.

The first universities appeared in European society in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, during the High Middle Ages. The universities of Bologna, Paris, and Oxford are three of the earliest known universities in European history.

A Madrasa is a university, college, or other educational institution in the Islamic world. Often times Madrasas might involve solely religious education, other times they might involve a varied and secular curriculum. Madrasas were established throughout the Middle East and North Africa during the height of Islamic power and cultural influence in the ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth centuries.