thread of middle eastern inventions because im sick of hearing about europeans all the time:

coffee - 11th century yemen and ethiopia:

the effects of coffee beans were first discovered by an ethiopian sheperd called Kaldi. it then got transported to yemen and was used by Sufi muslims to concentrate better while they prayed.

cafes - 15th century turkey:
the worlds first coffee shop on record is thought to be Kıva Han, which was opened in constantinople (now istanbul) in 1475.

world first university - 9th century morocco:

the worlds first university was founded in 859 by a young arab princess called fatima al-firhi in fez, morocco. the al-qarawiyyin mosque and university is still operating almost 1,200 years later.

soap - 2,800 BC in ancient babylonia:
soap was invented by arabs by combining vegetable oils with sodium hydroxide and aromatic oils

fountain pens - 10th century egypt:
the fountain pen was made in the year 953 bc the sultan at that time was annoyed at how messy it was to use ink with a quill.

the crankshaft and the combination lock - 12th century turkey:

both invented by ismail al-jazari, a muslim inventor who is also known as one of the founding fathers of robotics. the crankshaft is the basis of most of the machinery in the modern world, including bicycles.

hospitals - 9th century egypt:
the first known medical center was the Ahmad ibn Tulun Hospital, founded in 872 in cairo. the hospital provided free care for whoever needed it.