3200 B.C. A copper frog, the oldest known casting in existence, is cast in Mesopotamia.

3000 B.C. Weapons and cult objects made of copper of this age recovered from middle east and India.

2000 B.C. Iron is discovered.

800-700 B.C. First Chinese production of cast iron.

645 B.C. Earliest known sand molding (Chinese).

500 B.C. First steel products were made in India

233 B.C. Cast iron plowshares are poured in China.

500 A.D. Cast crucible steel is first produced in India, but the process is lost until 1750 when Benjamin Huntsman reinvents it in England.