Welcome to AirNmenky's Cabinet of Curiosity's, a production of I Heart Radio and Grimm

and Mild.

Our world is full of the unexplainable.

And if history is an open book, all of these amazing tales are right there on display,

just waiting for us to explore.

Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosity's.

All around our homes are simple inventions bound by one common thread.

The notebook on our desk, the GPS on our phone and the toothbrush on our bathroom sink each

got their starts in China.

China was the birthplace of many inventions we still use today, including the wooden coffin,

paper currency and the common match.

Most importantly though, China was responsible for what has been declared the four great inventions

by British scientists and synologists Joseph Needham.

These were inventions that were not only indicative of China's advancements in the field of science

and technology, but also profoundly changed the world.

The four great inventions that Needham listed were paper, the compass, movable type printing,

and a unique explosive substance known as gunpowder.

Gunpowder revolutionized how wars were fought when it was first applied to arrows, which

were ignited and then launched toward enemies.

The chemical formula for gunpowder first appeared around the 11th century during the Song Dynasty.

In one iteration it was said to have been made by combining six parts sulfur to six

parts salt-peater.

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