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50,000 BCE
Cave paintings
It allowed people to share stories and knowledge that couldn’t be shared orally. They could know if the cave was inhabited before by looking at its walls. Some of them had handprints that showed the number of people that lived in them.
Also, men could know what type of species lived in the surroundings of a cave only by looking at the paintings of its inside. This made easier the haunting of species. People could know if the cave was inhabited before them by looking at its walls. -
3500 BCE
Writing
Writing appears for the first time in history in the regions of Egypt and Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia developed cuneiform writing while Egypt developed hieroglyphs. -
1200 BCE
Fire signals
This type of communication was mainly used by indigenous people and consisted of burning branches and different kinds of leaves to create different colors depending on the material used to create the steak. -
776 BCE
Carrier pigeons
The first time being used was to announce the winner of the Olympic Games, then, they were used by Gengis Khan to communicate with a lost fleet. Using pigeons as a way of communication was so efficient that even the defeat of Napoleon in Waterloo was announced by a pigeon. These animals were the inspiration for many of the inventions we have developed nowadays, for example, Amazon’s drones (used to deliver packages) -
360 BCE
Hydraulic telegraph
It was invented in Greece by Eneas the tactical.
The invention consists of lighting some torches from the top of a mountain to see if the receiver is listening to you.
After the receiver lights his torch, they both open the valves located at the bottom of the containers. Inside those “pipes” there was a metal stick with messages attached to it. When the water reached the receiver’s container, the emitter hid his torch to indicate the end of the transmission. -
1450
The printing press
It was invented by Johannes Gutenberg in Germany.
It meant a revolution in the Middle Ages as it allowed people to create more copies of books and information in less time. -
1529
Newspaper
It was published in Vienna, it consisted of a paper sheet that announced the news, also called “Mercuries”. This newspaper asked Vienne’s citizens for help to defeat the Turkish. -
Morse code
It was first invented by Samuel Morse in 1835, but it was perfectionated by its creator in 1838. After that, people began to use it globally and it became very popular -
First public telegram
On the 24th of May of 1844, Samuel Morse sent a message from Washington to Baltimore, the first telegram ever: "What has God wrought? " -
Typewriter
Invented by Christopher Latam Sholes, was the first typewriter to be marketed -
Telephone
It was first invented by Antonio Meucci in 1854, but he hadn’t enough money to patent it.
Then, Alexander Graham Belt patented it formally in North America. -
Public radio transmission
It happened on Christmas Eve when Reginald Aubrey Fessenden shared a frequency that contained a violin playing “Oh Holy Night”. Ships in the sea were able to hear it.
First radio broadcasts for entertainment that were transmitted regularly didn’t exist until 1910. -
Television
The first image ever shared on television was a puppet from its inventor, John Logie Baird
The first public emission by the BBC was realized in 1927. The Nazis were the first people that used television to make their advertisements more effective. -
Secret communication system
Invented by the famous actress Hedy Lamarr, product of her concern about WW2. She ideated a system that transmitted fractionated messages by changing frequencies. If it wasn’t for her, Wi-Fi wouldn’t exist nowadays. -
Arpanet was created
It was like a closed internet that connected different research bases in the United States -
Ebook
This made reading books an easier activity as people didn’t have to move to get new books. Also, it was a more sustainable alternative to normal books. They were invented by Michael Hart. -
The internet
This was a huge revolution for the world as it allowed computers to connect internationally. It was invented in the U.S.A -
Wi-Fi
It was created by John O'Sullivan in Australia thanks to many other advances in technology and communication -
Mobile phone
Motorola Dynatac 8000x is considered the first mobile phone in history. It cost around 4000$ and weighed 800g, it was 33 centimeters long and only had autonomy for 60 min. Despite all these things, it meant a real change in the world as people could carry their mobiles with them. -
Amazon
Invented by Jeff Bezos in the United States. -
Google
Created by Larry Page and Serguéi Brin in California, United States. People were able to have access to any information within seconds. -
iPhone
Since the launch of the first iPhone, information and communication technology has developed around it. There have been many more advances but none of such importance. Carrying mobiles with us means we can search for information or communicate with people at any time, place, and in any way.