Short answers, pulled from the story.
Benjamin Beck published a widely used definition in 1981 stating that a tool is an object that extends an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Proto-typically, these objects are solid hand-operated non-biological items with a single broad purpose.
A 2010 study suggests the hominin species Australopithecus afarensis ate meat by carving animal carcasses with stone implements about 3.4 million years ago. Finds of actual tools date back at least 2.6 million years in Ethiopia.
The wheel and axle mechanism first appeared with the potter's wheel invented in what is now Iraq during the 5th millennium BC. The lever was used in the shadoof water-lifting device which appeared in Mesopotamia and then in ancient Egyptian technology.
Observation has confirmed that a number of species can use tools including monkeys apes elephants several birds and sea otters. New Caledonian crows create their own tools from twigs and wood while octopuses gather coconut shells to create a shelter.
Machine tools occasioned a surge in producing new tools in the Industrial Revolution by enabling the economical production of interchangeable parts through inherent precision. Before this era metal was worked manually using basic hand tools like hammers files scrapers saws and chisels.