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3100 BCE
Writing System Established
In 3100 BCE the Sumerians established the first writing system. This had many implications for the field of history. Now historians can use written records to get a clearer picture of historical events. In addition, writing is a historians main tool to explore historical topics. Follow this link to explore more information about the Sumerian writing code called cuneiform: http://www.ancientscripts.com/sumerian.html -
235 BCE
Library of Alexandria Founded
The Library of Alexandria is believed to be the largest and greatest library in the ancient world. Other libraries predated this but Alexandria set a precedent for the libraries we know today. Libraries are storage spaces for endless amounts of historical knowledge that historians capitalize on today. In addition, libraries are where most historiographies can be found. Use this link to take a virtual tour of the Library of Alexandria today. http://www.3dmekanlar.com/en/library-of-alexandria.html -
105
Paper Industry Created
Although materials like papyrus predated paper, in 105 CE is when paper as we know it today was created in China. This was a major technological advancement for the study of history. Now recording events became more mainstream, adding details to the historical record. Paper today also allows historians to print facts and interpretations of events in the past. Watch this video to learn more about the evolution of paper. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dT4FwLaYD6k -
1438
Printing Press Invented
In 1438 Johannes Gutenberg developed the movable type printing press in Germany. Now books and print could be mass produced therefore reaching a much wider audience. This begins an era in which books and printed media influence a much larger population. Follow the link to see a map that shows the expansion of the printing press throughout Europe in the 15th century. http://slideplayer.com/slide/4358054/14/images/78/The+Spread+of+the+Printing+Press.jpg -
First Photograph
The first surviving photograph was taken by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce in 1826. The photo (follow the link below) is of his family home in France and took hours to develop. Photographs have now become an invaluable source in the historical record and reveal a lot about people and how they lived in a certain time. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/content/dam/photography/photos/000/014/1459.ngsversion.1467942016460.adapt.676.1.jpg -
First Sound Recorded
Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville recorded the first sound in 1860 on a phonautograph which can be heard on the video below. Since then the capabilities of sound recording have advanced ten-fold. Voice recorders are great tools for historians recording oral histories. Voice recordings also add depth to our historical record by providing more information about people from the past. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Vqvq-f-UtU -
Portable Video Camera Released
In 1982 Sony released the first portable video camera. Increasingly, the general population played a larger role in recording history. Everything from personal family histories to major world events could now be captured by every day people. These videos now survive in our historical record. The video provided shows how personal video cameras caught a major world event on tape. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3shmfKOZ9g -
World Wide Web Established
In 1991, the world wide web grew out of predecessors of the modern day internet. The internet now allows virtually anyone to access any information about history at the click of a button. The internet forces history to move from a purely academic notion and into the lives of virtually anyone with internet access. To illuminate this point go to google, search history, and see how many results populate. I have 4,320,000,000 on my google search.
