Who invented compass?

A compass is used for determining direction identification. It is used for aviations, camping, hunting and other traveling purposes while moving from one place to another.  No records confirm that who invented or when compass invented but it was was believed that compass came into existence in the first century and was used by the Chinese. Chinese used lodestone in the compasses. They were the first to discover the special property of the lodestone, an iron metal that it always faced north when kept on a plane surface. Around 1300, mariner’s compass was invented in Europe. These were magnetic compasses of very simple kind and they were not very reliable too. For improving upon the reliability the needle was escalated under a card on a tip of a sharp pin and kept in a small box that was made of either wood or of ivory.

The ship compasses – a large gimbal mounted instrument which had its own light became popular in 19^th century. In 1908 gyroscopic compass was invented, which kept the compass pointing not to the magnetic north but to the north of real earth.

The market has variety of compasses suiting the specific requirement of the individual. The variety of compasses include field compass, map navigation compass, mirror compass etc. This invention of human has been rated among the best inventions as it helps man to know about directions.