History of Media

A Timeline of the Development of Communication and Media

Cave Paintings

Cave paintings where

first used in the stone
age as one of the first
forms of communication
and are estimated to
have first been painted
35,000 years ago.
Egyptian Hieroglyphics

One of the first ways other

than paintings to write
something down was
hieroglyphics estimated to
be first used in 3200 BC.
Ancient Greek Alphabet

The ancient Greek alphabet is

thought to have been the first
alphabet invented in around
800 BC.
The Printing Press

The first printing press was

invented in 1448 and was
the first time text could be
quickly written down and
mass produced. It was first
used to mass produce
bibles.
Newspaper

The first printed newspaper was

published in 1605 in Antwerp
called Relation.
The Typewriter

The first typewriter was

introduced in 1700s and
was the first time people
could type instead of
writing by hand. A more
compacted version was
invented in 1829.
Morse code

Morse code was invented in 1836

and was used to communicate
messages long distance.
The Telephone

The first telephone was invented

in 1876 by a few different
inventors all around the same
time, most famous of all,
Alexander Graham Bell.
The Radio

The radio was invented not

long after the telephone in
1895 and was a brand new
form of media.
The Camera

The camera was invented in the early

1800s but could only take very limited
photos, however still became the start
of a whole new medium. The video
camera was also invented later that
century, around 1890, and again
formed a whole new medium.
Television

Television was first invented in

1927 but first became used
widely in homes around 1950.
Again television was a
revolutionary invention for
media.
Computers

The first computer was invented

in 1936 by a German inventor
however only became used in
households in the 1980s.
The Internet

A form of the internet was first

invented in the 1960s by the
American military however the
world wide web that we know
today was invented in 1990 by
Tim Berners-Lee and
revolutionised media as
everything became instantly
available to see online.
The Mobile Phone

The first mobile phone was

invented in 1973 by Motorola.
3G and 4G Data

3G became available in 2001, at first

in Japan then the rest of the world.
4G was then invented in 2010.
Virtual Reality

Early and limited forms of

virtual reality have been
around since the 1960s
however the modern
innovation of recent years
has only made it popular
and more accessible in
the last decade.