Middle AgesTechnology Windmill c. 900 CEMajor Windmills appear in Persia and later Europe, harnessing wind for grinding and pumping. ▲ MattersSaveShareTrace roots Longest chain: The Big Bang → First stars ignite → Supernovae seed heavy elements → The Sun forms → Earth forms → First oceans → First life → Photosynthesis evolves → Great Oxidation Event → Complex cells (eukaryotes) → Multicellular life → First animals → Cambrian Explosion → First vertebrates → Jawed fish → Fish walk onto land → The amniotic egg → The Great Dying → Dinosaurs appear → Asteroid ends the dinosaurs → Early primates → Apes split from monkeys → Human line splits from chimpanzees → Walking upright → First stone tools → Genus Homo appears → Homo erectus → Control of fire → First fired clay figures → First pottery → Potter's wheel → The wheel → Water mill → Windmill Community notesLoading notes… Learn more ranked by votesDocumentbritannica.comWindmill (Britannica) ↗Editor's pickBookJean GimpelThe Medieval Machine: The Industrial Revolution of the Middle Ages ↗Editor's pickVideoSearch on YouTubemedieval windmill history ↗Editor's pick