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> You can find endless examples once you start looking

My favorite examples are gunpowder, the printing press.

Both were known by the Chinese and Koreans for thousand years before the Europeans. However, it was the Europeans that began using gunpowder in handheld guns (Chinese used it for fireworks) and combined the printing press with metallic moveable types and oily ink, making it far more efficient.

Also: how much James Watt improved the already existing steam engine.



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