Ancient Roman architecture
Although concrete had been used on a minor scale in Mesopotamia, Roman architects perfected Roman concrete and used it in buildings where it could stand on its own and support a great deal of weight. The first use of concrete by the Romans was in the town of Cosa sometime after 273 BC. Ancient Roman concrete was a mixture of lime mortar, aggregate, pozzolana, water, and stones, and was stronger than previously-used concretes. The ancient builders placed these ingredients in wooden frames where they hardened and bonded to a facing of stones or (more frequently) bricks. The aggregates used were often much larger than in modern concrete, amounting to rubble.
History of structural engineering
In 1824, Portland cement was patented by the engineer Joseph Aspdin as ""a superior cement resembling Portland Stone"", British Patent no. 5022. Although different forms of cement already existed (Pozzolanic cement was used by the Romans as early as 100 B.C. and even earlier by the ancient Greek and Chinese civilizations) and were in common usage in Europe from the 1750s, the discovery made by Aspdin used commonly available, cheap materials, making concrete construction an economical possibility.