TEN CRUCIAL COMMUNICATION BREAKTHROUGHS
The Alphabet
When: 4000-1200BC
the ability to record information was arguably most significant breakthrough in human communication after speech. sumerian cuneiform, a pictographic writing system denoting concepts and syllables, evolved around 4000Bc. it was replaced by the Phoenician alphabet comprising characters that represent single sounds.
Postal Service
27BC–Ad 14 it’s thought that the Persians were the first to introduce a kind of postal service around 550Bc. But the earliest and bestdocumented evidence of such a system, enabling the public to send written messages, dates from the reign of the roman emperor Augustus.
Paper
Ad 105 official records credit chinese inventor cai lun with the first production of paper, although archaeological research suggests that paper was being used in the country much earlier than that.
Gutenberg press
1450 for centuries, literacy and literature were restricted to religious scholars and wealthy intellectuals. then German Johannes Gutenberg invented the metal printing press with movable type, enabling multiple copies of publications to be made quickly and cheaply.
Semaphore 1792
By peppering 566 towers topped with mechanical arms throughout his native france, claude chappe invented the first optical semaphore system, allowing the
military and government to send quick messages over vast distances.
Morse Code
1840 the telegraph had already been invented, but in 1840 American painter samuel morse filed his first patent for an improved device that used electric signals to communicate information encoded as a series of dots and dashes.
Telephone
1876 many people lay claim to the invention of the telephone, but Alexander Graham Bell filed the first patent for a device that enabled people in different places to talk to each other.
Wireless transmissions
1895 Guglielmo marconi built on the work of others to develop and improve a system using electromagnetic radiation to transmit messages wirelessly. in 1895, he sent and received signals over a distance of almost 2.5km. By 1901, he was able to
communicate across the Atlantic.
Television
1925 the first equipment allowing the viewing of live pictures, rather than prerecorded footage, appeared in 1925. similar technology had been developed over the previous 50 years, but scotsman John logie Baird made the first public demonstration of television in 1925.
Arpanet
1969 modern networks were born when technology allowed computers to connect and communicate with each other. that technology led to the creation of Arpanet (Advanced research Projects Agency network), a system to help us research labs exchange information, laying the foundations for the internet.
When: 4000-1200BC
the ability to record information was arguably most significant breakthrough in human communication after speech. sumerian cuneiform, a pictographic writing system denoting concepts and syllables, evolved around 4000Bc. it was replaced by the Phoenician alphabet comprising characters that represent single sounds.
Postal Service
27BC–Ad 14 it’s thought that the Persians were the first to introduce a kind of postal service around 550Bc. But the earliest and bestdocumented evidence of such a system, enabling the public to send written messages, dates from the reign of the roman emperor Augustus.
Paper
Ad 105 official records credit chinese inventor cai lun with the first production of paper, although archaeological research suggests that paper was being used in the country much earlier than that.
Gutenberg press
1450 for centuries, literacy and literature were restricted to religious scholars and wealthy intellectuals. then German Johannes Gutenberg invented the metal printing press with movable type, enabling multiple copies of publications to be made quickly and cheaply.
Semaphore 1792
By peppering 566 towers topped with mechanical arms throughout his native france, claude chappe invented the first optical semaphore system, allowing the
military and government to send quick messages over vast distances.
Morse Code
1840 the telegraph had already been invented, but in 1840 American painter samuel morse filed his first patent for an improved device that used electric signals to communicate information encoded as a series of dots and dashes.
Telephone
1876 many people lay claim to the invention of the telephone, but Alexander Graham Bell filed the first patent for a device that enabled people in different places to talk to each other.
Wireless transmissions
1895 Guglielmo marconi built on the work of others to develop and improve a system using electromagnetic radiation to transmit messages wirelessly. in 1895, he sent and received signals over a distance of almost 2.5km. By 1901, he was able to
communicate across the Atlantic.
Television
1925 the first equipment allowing the viewing of live pictures, rather than prerecorded footage, appeared in 1925. similar technology had been developed over the previous 50 years, but scotsman John logie Baird made the first public demonstration of television in 1925.
Arpanet
1969 modern networks were born when technology allowed computers to connect and communicate with each other. that technology led to the creation of Arpanet (Advanced research Projects Agency network), a system to help us research labs exchange information, laying the foundations for the internet.
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