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KF5JRV > TECH 05.10.16 14:04l 14 Lines 649 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 3064_KF5JRV
Read: GUEST
Subj: The Magnetic Compass
Path: IW8PGT<CX2SA<N0KFQ<AE5ME<KF5JRV
Sent: 161005/1132Z 3064@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA BPQK6.0.13
Magnetic Compass
The magnetic compass is an old Chinese invention, probably first made in China during the
Qin dynasty (221-206 B.C.). Chinese fortune tellers used lodestones (a mineral composed of
an iron oxide which aligns itself in a north-south direction) to construct their fortune
telling boards.
Eventually someone noticed that the lodestones were better at pointing out real directions,
leading to the first compasses.
They designed the compass on a square slab which had markings for the cardinal points and
the constellations. The pointing needle was a lodestone spoon-shaped device, with a handle
that would always point south.
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