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Timeline for the development of the piano etc

1700
Bartolomeo Cristofori's "new invention" of the piano e forte recorded, Florence, Italy

1711
- Scipione Maffei publishes a journal article about the piano
- John Shaw invents the tuning fork

1716
Jean Marius submits hammer-keyboard designs to Royal Academy of Sciences, Paris

1721
Christoph Gottlieb Schroter submits hammer-keyboard designs to the Saxon Court, Dresden

1725
- Translation of Maffei's article into German stimulates widespread interest
- Pianos advertised, Vienna

1730s
- Gottfried Silbermann experiments in Dresden, Germany with pianos derived from Cristofori
- Pianos known to be in Portuguese and Spanish courts

1730
- Fickert advertises hammer-keyboard instrument in Leipzig, Germany
- Kirkman piano makers founded in London, England

1739
Domenico del Mela builds earliest known upright piano, Gagliano, Italy

1740s
Christian Ernst Friederici makes upright pianos, Gera, Germany

1745
Franciso Perez Mirabal begins making pianos in Spain

1740
George Frederic Handel plays on a piano, London, England

1747
J. S. Bach plays a Silberman piano at the Prussian Court, Potsdam, and composes Musical Offering

1760s
- Pianos derived from Cristofori built in Spain and Portugal
- Pantalons, small hammer-keyboard instruments, made in Germany

1766
Probable invention of the square piano by Johannes Zumpe, London

1771
- Americus Backers produces the English grand piano, London;
- Earliest reported public piano performance in North America by David Propert, Boston
- Robert Stodart takes out a patent using the name "Grand" to describe his instrument. This was the first known use of the word "Grand" in a patent

1772
Johann Andreas Stein, a former apprentice of Silberman from 1749 -1750, develops the Viennese action in Augsberg, Germany

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A fascinating journey from 1700 till the present. It’s an amazing history!