Table 1.1 Transport and communication milestones
Date Event
c. 60,000 Homo sapiens’ colonization of Australia implies the construction of seaworthy boats 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)