Monumental inventions of history can be grouped into three categories: (a) those whose origin is well known and well appreciated; (b) those whose origin is completely lost to history; and (c) those who origin may be known, at least in general terms, but which are not very well appreciated in modern society. Among those in the first category are efficient steam engines (by James Watt in 1765), movable-type printing (by the Chinese inventor Bi Sheng in 1040 CE, although often credited to Gutenberg), and of course