Mill (Civ3)/The Middle Ages/Civilopedia

Originally a mill was a building with machinery, powered by water or wind, for the grinding of grain into
flour or meal, and this mechanized process of flour milling was one of the major steps toward civilization
as we know it. The Romans invented the first water mills in the 1st Century BC, and the first windmills were
developed in the 11th century in Europe. Once mills were being used to grind flour, it was a short step to
connect other machinery to the shafts that powered the grindstones and soon mills were turning out all kinds
of products, most notably lumber, textiles and iron. Since the millers did not want to contaminate their flour,
most industrial mills were soon built separately from the mills producing foodstuffs, and the terms sawmill,
paper mill and textile mill come from these specialized buildings. The term mill in general has survived to
this day to describe almost any industrial plant, since this water and wind power was what fueled the Industrial
Revolution in Europe and America.