Technology and Engineering Atlas

How Things Are Built
Sign In
Text size
100%
Theme
Inventions

Crane

Mechanical Engineering

Citation Formats

General Reference

APA Style

BibTeX

A crane is a machine that moves materials both vertically and horizontally, using a boom, hoists, wire ropes or chains and pulleys to lift and relocate heavy loads within the swing of its arm. The earliest known lifting device, the shaduf, was developed in ancient Mesopotamia around 3000 BC and later spread to ancient Egypt, but the true building crane emerged separately in ancient Greece in the late 6th century BC, where distinctive lifting cuttings on temple stone blocks provide the archaeological evidence for its use in construction.

Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.
Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.

View At A Past Year

The atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.