Short answers, pulled from the story.
The first true crank-and-connecting rod mechanism appeared in the Western Han dynasty between 202 BC and 9 AD. This historical record predates previous assumptions that the earliest evidence was a Han era glazed-earthenware tomb model of an agricultural winnowing fan dated no later than 200 AD.
The ancient Egyptians possessed manual drills resembling a crank during the Old Kingdom between 2686 and 2181 BCE. These early tools did not operate as true cranks because they lacked the essential connecting rod that defines the mechanism's ability to convert motion types.
A Roman iron crank excavated in Augusta Raurica, Switzerland, dates to the 2nd century AD and features a long piece fitted with a long bronze handle at one end. This artifact pushes the date of the crank and connecting rod invention back by a full millennium compared to previous assumptions.
The ancient Greek Hierapolis sawmill in Roman Asia from the 3rd century AD used a waterwheel fed by a mill race to power two frame saws through a gear train and connecting rods to cut rectangular blocks. The accompanying inscription on the pediment of the Hierapolis mill is in Greek, confirming the sophisticated understanding of mechanical necessity required to operate such a system.
The crank became common in Europe by the early 15th century, often seen in the works of the German military engineer Konrad Kyeser. The Anonymous of the Hussite Wars, an unknown German engineer, documented the rapid adoption of the compound crank and noted that double compound cranks began to be equipped with connecting-rods.
The last car model which incorporated a crank was the Citroën 2CV, produced from 1948 to 1990. This marked the end of an era where human strength was the primary method of engine ignition before electric starters came into general use.