And they were passed from man to man - sometimes on a daily basis.
But for millions of Africans, life without these inventions and the innovations based on them is still their daily reality.
Open daily 3pm-2am Sassafras has all of the cosy 1920's charm of a prohibition-era speakeasy, with none of the pretence of Franklin Mortgage or Hop Sing (since the 21st amendment removed the need for such).
Quotations from his books slipped into our daily speech whenever we wanted to appear clever: "Those were days when men were men"; "When a handshake goes beyond the elbow, then it has become something else".
They contained daily forecasts of the interest rates charged between banks for lending in Japan's yen currency.
A study in the New England Journal on maintaining weight loss in 314 successful dieters (who had lost an average of 19.3kg in the past two years) found that those who weighed themselves daily were less likely to gain 2.3kg or more over the next 18 months.
Opening the bags of infant leaves of rocket and oak-leaf lettuce, basil and nasturtium, hot mustard and cool butterhead is a daily ritual that is as much a part of my life as a morning espresso.
Mapusa This town has a daily market full of fruit, veg, fish, bread, flowers, spices, clothes, street food and home goods.
From the early 1980s onwards, Murdoch's best-selling daily, the Sun, has been a persistent critic of the European Union and all its works.
EasyJet (easyjet.com) will start a daily service from Gatwick on 18 March with fares from £47.49 one way.
Refugee advocates said the substandard conditions in PNG's Manus Island detention centre, the very high crime rates in the country and "daily pervasive human rights abuses" were evidence the new arrangements contravened Australia's basic obligations to help refugees who come here.
