c. 2900 Egyptian hieroglyphic script fully developed
c. 2500 Chariots in Mesopotamia, skis in Scandinavia
c. 1200 Phoenician alphabet of 22 letters invented
c. 220 Three-masted ships in Greece
271 Magnetic compass invented in China
c. 650 Chinese scholars develop technique for printing texts from engraved wooden
blocks
1403 Moveable metal type first used for printing in Korea
1522 Spanish ships returning from Magellan’s voyage complete the first
circumnavigation of the world
1807 First steamboat service begins operation on Hudson river, USA
1825 Stockton–Darlington railway, Britain, opens with locomotive designed by George
Stephenson
1843 SS Great Britain is first propeller-driven ship to cross the Atlantic
1866 First transatlantic cable is successfully laid
1876 Telephone is invented by US scientist Alexander Graham Bell
1878 First electric railway is demonstrated in Germany by Werner von Siemens
1886 Four-wheeled petrol-powered automobile is built by German engineer Gottlieb
Daimler
1901 Marconi transmits radio signals across the Atlantic
1903 Wright brothers make first sustained flight of powered aircraft
1908 Mass production of cars begins with Model T Ford in USA
1927 First public broadcast of television is transmitted in Britain
1941 First flight of jet-powered plane, with engine designed by British engineer Frank
Whittle, takes place
1951 US engineers build UNIVAC I, the first commercial computer
1957 Soviet Union launches an artificial satellite – Sputnik I
1962 US communications satellite Telstar is launched
1964 Japanese railways begin running high-speed ‘bullet’ trains
1970 Boeing 747 enters service
1975 A personal computer (PC) in kit form goes on sale in the USA
1984 A cellphone network is launched in Chicago, USA
1994 World Wide Web is created
1997 Mobile internet technologies emerge (WAP)