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Jan 1, 1455
Gutenberg Bible
The Gutenberg Bible was the first substantial work printed with movable type. The Gutenberg Press changed the way information was communicated and introduced a new age of literacy to the world. -
Joseph Henry Builds an Electric Telegraph
In 1831 Joseph Henry built the protoype of the first electric telegraph. The electric telegraph revolutionized long distance communication and set the foundation for Samuel Morse's work with the long distance telegraph line and Alexander Graham Bell's telephone. -
Samuel Morse Completes First Long -Distance Electric Telegraph Line
On May 1, 1844 Samuel F.B. Morse successully completed the first long-distance telegraph line from Washington D.C. to Anapolis Juncture, Maryland. This achievement changed the belief that the only way to communicate information long distances was by carrier. It also revolutionized communication during war. -
Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Watson exhibit an Electric Telephone
On August 4, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Watson exhibited the first working telephone in Mount Pleasant, Ontario Canada to Brantford, Ontario, Canada. These two locations are roughly five miles away and proved that voice communication over large distances was possible. -
Guglielmo Marconi transmits radio signals from Cornwall to Newfoundland.
On December 12, 1901 Guglielmo Marconi successfully transmitted the morse code letter "S" from Cornwall to Newfoundland; a distance of 2,137 miles. This marked a new age of communication, proving that signals could be transmitted great distances with hindrance of the Earth's curve. -
John Logie Baird Transmits the First Television Signal
On October 30, 1925 John Logie Baird successfully transmitted the world's first television signal in London, England. Baird transmitted a now iconic image of a ventilloquist's puppet's head. -
Douglas H. Ring and W. Rae Young of Bell Labs propose a cell-based approach that leads to “cellular phones.”
In December, 1947 Douglas H. Ring and W. Rae Young of Bell Labs propose a cell-based approach that leads to “cellular phones.” The technology used hexagonal cells for phones to be used in vehicles. While the technology to produce these cells was not available and wouldn't be for about twenty years, their idea paved the way for modern cell phones. -
E-mail is first used on a time-sharing mainframe computer
In 1961 the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) demonstrated the first compatible time sharing system. This system allowed users to login to an early IBM computer in order to store files on a disc. This was the first use of E-mail or electric communication through a computer. -
Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau at CERN build the prototype system that becomes the World Wide Web.
In March 1989 Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau of CERN put forth a proposal for what would later be know as the world wide web, or the internet. By 1991 the first inernet site was up, forever changing how information was accessed and obtained. -
Neil Papworth sends the first text message.
On December 3, 1992 Neil Papworth, an engineer at Semagroup sent the message "Merry Christmas" to Richard Jarvis' cellphone from a personal computer. While it took a substantial amount of time for cell phones to become advanced enough to send messages, this simple holiday greeting spawned a revolution in technology, communication and even linguistics. -
Mosaic, the first graphical-interface web browser is released.
In early 1993, the world's first graphical-interface web browser to allow individuals to organize and sort internet data was released. This browser was the foundation for the most popular web browser's in use today including: Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Internet Explorer. -
Webcrawler is launched.
On April 20, 1994 Webcrawler, the first full-text web search program, was launched by Brian Pinkerton. Webcrawler was the orginal Google in that it allowed its users to search for items on the internet without having an exact website to type in. -
Nokia 9000 Communicator is released in Finland.
In 1996 the Nokia 9000 Communicator, the first mobile phone with internet connectivity, is released in Finland. The precursor to the moden PDA or Blackberry, the Nokia 9000 revolutionized the idea of what a cell phone was capable of and set the bar for the cell phones of the future. -
Google search engine with relevancy rankings is released.
On September 4, 1998 the Google search engine with relevancy rankings is released. Google differed from other search engines in that instead of counting how times the word(s) being searched appeared on the website, it used a new software designed by Google's creators, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, to measure a "website's relevance by determining by the number of pages, and the importance of those pages, that linked back to the original site." -
First commercial use of the term Wi-Fi—wireless fidelity.
In August 1999 the first commercial use of the term "Wi-Fi," or wireless fidelity was used. The term was coined by Inter Brand Corporation as play on the term "Hi-Fi." Wirelss internet opened the door of the internet wider than anyone thought was possible. It made virtually anywhere internet accessible and not only changed how the internet is accessed, but where and when. -
The Blackberry is released
In early 2002 Research In Motion released the original Blackberry. This device changed, once again, what cellular phones were capable of. The orginal Blackberry supported push e-mail, mobile telephone, text messaging, Internet faxing, Web browsing and other wireless information services. -
The iPhone is introduced.
On June 29, 2007 Apple introduced the original iPhone. The device sold out of the original worldwide shipment in six hours. The iPhone took the cell phone into a realm of unforseen capablilites and started the idea of a "smart phone." -
The first-generation Kindle is released.
On November 19, 2007 Amazon released the first-generation Kindle reading device. the Kindle is the first, main stream, electronic reading device. It allows it's users to download books and store them to the device. It has been called the printing press of the 21st century and can shape how people read and improve literacy for generations. -
Anders Olsson transmits solitary waves through an optical fiber with a data rate of 32 billion bits per second.
