On June 23, 1868, Luther Sholes invented the "modern" typewriter. One more advance in the march of communications technology.
I figured I'd go back and date some of the other great technological communication milestones in our history. Not vouching for the accuracy of the dates, but I think they're close to target ...
- Phonetic alphabet (Greece) - 1775 B.C.
- Homing pigeons used for messages (Greece again) - 776 B.C.
- Papyrus rolls used as communication media - somewhere around 500 B.C.
- Paper (China) - 105 B.C.
- Newspapers (Europe) - 1450
- Printing Press - 1455
- Microphone - 1821
- Telegraph - 1831, followed by the telegraph line - 1843
- Typewriter - 1868
- Mimeograph - 1876
- Telephone - 1876
- Film Camera - 1888
- Dialing telephone - 1889
- Telephone answering machine - 1898
- Steel used as recording media - 1899
- Talking film - 1910
- Television - 1923
- Tape recorder - 1934
- Computer - 1944
- Photocopier - 1958
- Fax machine - 1966
- Internet - 1969
- Floppy disc - 1971
- Cell phone networks - 1979
We've come a long way, huh?
