The World Steel Association presents "The Story of Steel," a narrative that traces the unforgettable moments in the development of the steel industry. From the smelting of meteoric iron to the Bessemer process that laid the foundation for the Industrial Revolution, and to the development of stronger, lighter, and more multifunctional steels today, it reviews the immense contribution of steel to human history and showcases its crucial role in shaping the future of human society.

Our journey begins with the iron and steel industry before the 18th century. The Iron Age craftsmen accidentally discovered steel during their labor. A delightful surprise, the industrial production of steel in the 19th century propelled the development of the modern world. The origins of steelmaking date back thousands of years, beginning with our ancestors' mining and iron smelting.

Over 4000 years ago, ancient Egyptians and Mesopotamians discovered meteoric iron, using this "gift from the gods" for decoration. It wasn't until 2000 years later that people began producing iron from mined ores. The earliest history of iron smelting originated in India around 1800 BCE. Around 1500 BCE, the Hittites of Anatolia began to smelt iron. The Hittite kingdom fell around 1200 BCE, and various tribes dispersed across Europe and Asia with their iron smelting knowledge, marking the beginning of the "Iron Age."

However, iron is not steel. It is almost certain that the metallurgical workers of the Iron Age discovered a byproduct—steel—during their iron smelting process. These early blacksmiths burned charcoal to heat iron ore, producing relatively pure sponge iron, known as "pig iron," which could then be forged into shape.

These early blacksmiths noticed that iron left in charcoal furnaces for a longer time would change, becoming harder and stronger, a quality undoubtedly more valuable. They also noticed that after repeated heating, the quality of the iron improved, allowing for bending and forging into metalwork.

The term "steel" first appeared in the writings of the 7th-century BCE Greek historian Herodotus, describing a bowl inlaid by Glaucus of Chios. "A huge pure silver bowl, inlaid on a steel tray. Glaucus, a man of Chios, created this bowl, and he invented the art of steel inlay."

After discovering steel and its superior properties, craftsmen of the Iron Age made tools and weapons, such as knives. New techniques soon emerged, such as quenching, which involves rapidly cooling the processed steel piece in water or oil to increase its hardness. An archaeological discovery in Cyprus revealed that as early as 1100 BCE, craftsmen knew how to make quenched hardened knives.

However, ancient steelmaking remained a tedious and difficult process, making rare steel products extremely precious.

The craftsmanship of the Iron Age was mysterious, with the final outcome depending on the blacksmith's personal skills. The high-quality steel produced by South Indian blacksmiths dates back to the 3rd century BCE, where they used charcoal to heat crucible smelting of pig iron, creating "Wootz steel," still renowned for its quality today.

Chinese blacksmiths also smelted high-quality steel. The history of steelmaking in China dates back to the 2nd century BCE, with a process similar to the "Bessemer Acid Open Hearth Steelmaking" developed in Europe in the 19th century. Between approximately 600-900 AD, the Tang Dynasty had widely applied steel agricultural tools.

With the intercommunication of technology, Indian and Chinese merchants opened up the world steel market. Many historians believe that the "Seres" described by the famous Roman natural scientist and writer Pliny as having the best steel in the world referred to China. The excellent quality of Damascus swords was made from Indian Wootz steel.

War was a driving force in the early development of steel. Royal armies, including those of China, Greece, Persia, and Rome, needed durable and powerful weapons and armor. During this time, the Romans learned how to temper processed hardened steel to reduce its brittleness, a process of reheating and slow cooling.

By the 15th century, steel was widely used worldwide. Sword making particularly highlighted the excellent properties of steel, with the blade requiring toughness, hardness, and sharpness. From Damascus and Toledo swords to the samurai swords wielded by Japanese warriors, steel was the top choice for making the best weapons of the time.

Steel's use was not limited to the military. Many tools, such as axes, saws, and chisels, gradually adopted steel tips to make them more efficient and durable. Despite the increasing demand for steel, steelmaking remained a slow, time-consuming, and expensive process.

The mystery of Damascus steel is well documented, with its swords famous for their sharpness and the wavy patterns on the blade surface. Made from Wootz steel, the steel may have originated from Central Asia or South India, but no one has been able to replicate the exceptional properties of this steel.

The rise of crucible steel has piqued the curiosity of metallurgists and researchers in Asia and Europe for centuries. Early Muslim scientists wrote research works on Damascus steel and swords. Starting from the mid-17th century, more and more European travelers, such as the French Jean Baptiste Tavernier, embarked on journeys to the East, visiting Indian steelmaking sites and depicting what they saw in their works and travelogues.

The interest in steel has driven the continuous development of the steel industry in Europe. As early as the 12th century, processes such as blast furnace steelmaking had begun to appear and become well-known in Asia. One of the earliest known blast furnace sites is in Laxhyttan, Sweden. With its rich iron ore reserves, advanced production processes, and high-quality pig iron raw materials, Sweden became the main supplier of high-quality iron on the European continent.

Most steelmakers of the time had learned to produce steel and iron using the carburizing process, which involved long periods of heating to infuse carbon powder into the surface of a pig iron rod to increase the carbon content in the alloy. This process could take several days or even weeks.

In 1740, a mysterious and highly creative young Englishman, Benjamin Huntsman, revealed a new crucible iron process to northern English knife and shear merchants. Using clay crucibles, which are also known as pots, the melting temperature of the rod material was high enough to meet the requirements of the carburizing process, and it was also possible to cast the produced steel water into uniform, high-quality ingots, increasing production compared to the past. Although Huntsman's invention had not yet achieved the goal of producing high-quality steel at low cost and high output, it still required the efforts of later generations. But it was his technology that propelled Sheffield, England, to become one of the largest steelmaking centers in the 19th and 20th centuries.