2600 BC - Ancient Egyptians used a form of roller bearings to assist in moving large stone pieces that were for the construction of the Pyramids.
40 BC - An early known example of a wooden ball bearing was used to support a rotating table. This example was found in the remains of a sunken Roman ship in Lake Nemi, Italy.
1500 AD - Blueprint drawings and the early concept design of a helicopter by Leonardo da Vinci used ball bearings. This is the first known recorded use of bearings in aerospace design.
17th Century - Galileo describes the caged bearing for the first time
1740 - John Harrison invents the first caged-roller bearing for H3 marine timekeeping. Little did he know, he used the same bearing in a contemporary regulatory clock.
1794 - The first patent for the ball race was awarded to Philip Vaughn of Carmarthen, Wales. His design incorporated a ball running along a groove in an axle assembly.
1869 - Parisian bicycle mechanic Jules Suriray receives the first patent for a radial ball bearing, which he fitted on the winning bike of the world's first bicycle race in Paris.
1898 - First patent is issued for Timken Tapered roller bearings. In the following year, Henry Timken established his company.
1907 - Sven Wingquist of SKF invents new self-aligning ball bearings. This set a new standard of design, and from it, innovations popped up like the wire race bearing in 1934 and the V groove bearing in 1968, respectively.
1917 - During World War I, U.S. bearing manufacturers decide to create an informal group to assist in bearing manufacturing. This led to the founding of The American Bearing Manufacturers Association (ABMA).
The 1980s - Here, we saw the first bi-material plain bearing, which Robert Schroeder invented. Schroeder was the founder of Pacific Bearing.
The 2000s - Now, we see the ball and roller bearings used in all kinds of industrial applications, from wheel bearings in the automotive industry to ultra-high-speed bearings used in dental drills and anything in between.