Have you ever enjoyed fireworks? Owned a piece of gold-plated jewelry? Maybe you’ve gone geocaching with a magnetic compass or watched a hot air balloon? You probably didn’t know that you had the Ancient Chinese to thank. Beginning more than 2,500 years ago, scientists in Ancient China started making truly wonderful discoveries and inventions. They constructed crossbows, sun compasses, magnetic compasses, and even the world’s first seismograph (for detecting earthquakes.) Now you can recreate one of these fascinating inventions at home: the magnetic compass.