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3001 BCE
Before Messenger Pigeons
Before the method of sending messages through pigeons were created the only ways humans could contact each other is via a human messenger or a traditional meeting face to face. -
3000 BCE
First use of Messenger Birds
Egypt is the first civilization that uses Homing Pigeons to carry messages. This is the first recorded use of a civilization using birds to communicate to other civilizations or groups of people. -
1000 BCE
Messenger Birds in Early Olympic Games
The sport of flying messenger pigeons became established and victors of the Ancient Olympic Games were communicated via messenger birds -
1150
Messenger Birds Become Commonplace
Messenger Pigeons started to become became commonly used, starting in Baghdad -
1167
First Civilization to Normalize Messenger Pigeons
Communication via messenger pigeon between Baghdad and Syria had been established and normalized by Sultan Nur ad-Din. first civilizations to make it a commonplace means of communication. This event is one very noticeable example of the Affordances Theory as it demonstrates the ease of access using birds instead of people for messengers -
1200
The Concerns up till 1200
While communication methods did indeed advance there are still numerous problems that need to be solved to further the effectiveness of Messenger Birds. The biggest problems are that birds can only fly one way trips, and that the majority of the world hasn't adapted to this method of communication -
Period: to
World Media Uses Pigeons
Newspaper Organizations used Pigeons to expedite the flow of information and publish more often. This occurred in Europe and New York City mostly -
Their First Use in Battle
The outcome Battle of Waterloo was said to have been delivered via pigeon however the use of pigeons was rare until the 1820s -
The Cannonball Run
Great pigeon race called the Cannonball Run took place at Brussels. The first competition that occurs between people to prove who's messenger birds are faster. -
Concerns up till the 1850s
Messenger birds have been started to be included in everyday communications and newspapers. They are also being used in wars and the strategies and death tolls of these battles are increasingly accordingly. This is when wide scaled wars between multiple countries becomes a possibility, which the world will soon find out -
Precursor to Telephones
Paul Reuter used a fleet of over 45 pigeons to deliver news and stock prices between Brussels and Aachen, this mass system of communication became the starting point of early telegraph lines. -
Birds in The Franco-Prussian War
During the Franco-Prussian War pigeons were used to carry mail between besieged Paris and the French unoccupied territory. -
A New Discovery
A discovery was made that by placing pigeon food at one location and their home at another location, pigeons have been trained to fly back and forth up to twice a day reliably, covering round-trip flights up to 160 km. prior to this bird could only fly to their nests and had to be manually transported first. -
World's First Airmail Service
Great Barrier Pigeongram Service established which is possibly the first regular air mail service in the world. The world's first 'airmail' stamps were issued for the Great Barrier Pigeon-Gram Service from 1898 to 1908. -
Julius Neubronner
The German apothecary Julius Neubronner used carrier pigeons to both receive and deliver urgent medication. -
The First Google Maps
Julius Neubronner created a pigeon mounted camera to map out terrain from a sky view -
Concerns up until the early 1910s
Between new discoveries on using messenger pigeons, technologies that further tactical understanding and supply routes, and the worlds first non-hand delivered postal service, there has been a great boon in communication abilities of countries around the world. -
Messenger Birds in World War 1
Birds were used extensively during World War I. One homing pigeon, Cher Ami, was awarded the French Croix de guerre for his heroic service in delivering 12 important messages, despite having been very badly injured. Many messenger bird were shot down in this war. -
Messenger Birds in World War 2
carrier pigeons played a vital part in the Invasion of Normandy as allies were scared of radio communications being intercepted. This is interesting as both the Uses and Gratification and Affordances theory are present here. Uses and Gratification is used in terms of the allies preferring to use pigeons as the safe means of communication and Affordances for choosing messenger pigeons as it was the easiest and most efficient form of communication at the time without risking leaked information. -
Concerns up till 1945
Two World Wars have occurred in these 35 years that were to the scale that the world could not even fathom. The cause for these wars while numerous and not entirely one reason can be related to the communication advancements of the last century. While technology here has grown past the point of using carrier pigeons for normalized messaging, the starting point of non verbally and human delivered messaging was the incorporation of carrier pigeons, which then led to this tragedy. -
Pigeons Helping Out Hospitals
Uses Neubronner's approach on carrier pigeons. An emergency occurred and a solution was created for the transport of laboratory specimens between two English hospitals by suing carrier pigeons. -
Birds in Modern Times
police departments in Odisha state in eastern India use carrier pigeons to provide emergency communication services following natural disasters. This relates to Affordances as, in India when natural disasters occur, technological means of communicating can fail thus the easiest way to communicate with people in the affected area is via messenger pigeon. -
Concerns About Modern Day Communication
While for the most part pigeons have been entirely replaced as more effective means of communication have been created. Both old and new communication methods cause problems that exist because of these advancements in communication and peoples reaction to them. There is also a new problem that has come about in the 21st century which is attachment on these forms of communication. In the past this problem would be similar to keeping a pigeon, paper and pen in your pocket. -
What Could Have Been Improved
While the improvement of communication has benefited the advancement of technology, there are definitely some concerns and potential changes that could have mitigated the problems that a worldwide communication network can cause. One change that I think could improve messenger birds effectiveness in the past, at least for war would be a type of paint or dye to help disguise the messenger birds colors. This could prevent a lot of messenger birds being shot down and the message itself stolen.