COMMUNICATION HISTORY -- A BRIEF CHRONOLOGY
Early Oral, Visual Communication
100,000 BC (Speculated) beginning of oral communication
45,000 Earliest artifacts of visual communication (Neanderthal plaque,
mammoth tooth, Hungary)
30,000 Mammoth ivory house--earliest animal carving
35,000- Cave paintings by Cro-Magnun Man (southern France and Spain), later
14,000 simplified and evolved into pictographs
8,000 Earliest token system coincides with beginnings of agricultural
economy in Fertile Crescent (Mesopotamia)
Emergence of Written Communication
3,000- Bronze Age begins (hard metal tools using alloys)
2,800BC Advent of pictographs, phonogram systems; decline of token systems
Sumerians use clay tablets, later introduce cuneiform
Egyptians introduce papyrus, later use parchment,
1,000 Phoenicians developed simplified alphabet
800 Greeks created 23-symbol alphabet, basis for Roman alphabet
400 Golden Age of Greece: introduction of modern ideas of visual
design; public debate flourishes with democratic rule; Plato,
Aristotle theorize about logic, argumentation, rhetoric and
poetics.
200 AD Romans adapt Greek alphabet.
400- Fall of Rome, beginning of Dark Ages. Use of text limited mostly
1200 AD to monks working as copyists in monasteries .
Advent of Printing
1000 Movable clay type invented in China
1234 Movable metal type invented in Korea
1200s Scribe guilds, commercial copyist shops sprout up around newly
formed European universities
1300s Use of paper in Europe expands (Invented by Chinese in 105 AD,
brought by Moors to Spain, spread to Italy, later to Germany)
1446 Gutenberg invents printing with movable type; Gutenberg Bibles
1470s First press in England; William Caxton prints earliest ad flyer.
Political Responses
1529 King Henry VIII outlawed imported publications in England,
one of many authoritarian rulers to control press.
Stationers Company later established to issue printing licenses.
1598 King James I extolled idea of divine right of kings
1644 John Milton launched libertarian thinking, called for free
expression of ideas as means to discover truth in Aeropagitica.
1770s Thomas Paine and others published pamphlets calling for American
Independence, value of free expression and free press
1789 U.S. and French constitutions adopted, including provisions
guaranteeing freedom of expression.
Early Newspapers
1480 French create first general mail system (1624 Denmark, 1625 England)
1485 First newspaper (claimed by Hungary); various other efforts.
1500s House of Fuggers circulated letters among correspondents
1600-20 First sustained production of newspapers in Europe
1620 First English-language newspaper: The Courant.... (Amsterdam)
1640s Newspapers flourish in England, after century of strict control
Books and Book Publishing
1900BC Earliest known "book," Book of the Living Dead (Egyptian papyrus)
540BC Earliest library established in Athens
868AD Chinese perfect a block printing system for books (Diamond Sutra)
Block books precedes printing with movable type (until 1480)
1446 Gutenberg prints 42-line Bible in Mainz, Germany
1457 First book with title page printed in Mainz (Psalmorum codex). Idea
attributed to Peter Schoffer
1460 Woodcuts used for book illustration beginning with Albrecht Pfister
1461 First popular books printed in German vernacular in Bamburg by
Albrecht Pfister (Ulrich Boner's Edelstein and Johann von Tepl's
Ackermann aus Bohmen)
1466 First German language Bible (first Italian in 1471)
1470 Translation begins of Greek, Arab science classics
1500 End of early period in printing history (referred to as incunabula)
1747 Idea of numbering pages began by Foulis Press in Scotland
1935 Modern paperback began (Allan Lane of Penguin Books)
Early American Print Media
1539 First printing press brought to New World (Mexico City)
1640 First U.S. printing press set up at Cambridge (Harvard); first book
printed in U.S.: Bay Psalm Book.
1690 Colonial press period begins. First U.S. newspaper: Publick
Occurrences, Boston. Followed by Boston News Letter in 1704.
1731 Benjamin Franklin started the first subscription library in U.S.
1741 Benjamin Franklin becomes one of first two American magazine
publishers
1765 American publishers oppose British Stamp Tax
1791 Bill of Rights (First Amendment) added to U.S. Constitution of 1789;
partisan press period begins
1820 Most major cities had newspaper: 22 dailies, 66 semi-weeklies, 422
weeklies in U.S.
1831 Emergence of penny press; Benjamin Day begins New York Sun
1846 Rotary (cylinder) press invented in the U.S.
1886 Ottmar Mergenthaler perfects linotype automatic typesetting machine
1890s Advent of yellow press (Joseph Pulitzer at New York World, William
Randolph Hearst at New York Journal)
1896 Adolph Ochs purchased New York Times, focused on serious news.
Telegraphy ("writing over distance")
1838 Samuel F. B. Morse invented technology, petitioned Congress for
appropriation to build experimental line
1844 Morse linked Baltimore and Washington: "What hath God brought?"
1846 Associated Press wire service organized
1848 Trading began on Chicago Commodity Exchange as wire reached city
1855 Telegraph reached California, seven years before railroad.
1883 Four time zones established in U.S., facilitating communications.
Photography ("writing with light")
400 B.C. Early light principles observed by Aristotle
1727 Scientists discovered silver nitrate turns dark if exposed to light
1839 Early tintype photos invented by Louis Daguerre (daguerreotype)
Negative system allowing multiple prints invented by William Talbot
1851 Glass plate negatives using wet collodion process method invented
1854 Roger Fenton became first notable news photographer (Crimean War)
1862-65 Matthew Brady chronicled U.S. Civil War, sold prints in galleries
1873 Professor Frederick Ives (Cornell U.) perfects halftone process to
print photos in publications, after years of various experiments
1880 New York Daily Graphic published first regular newspaper photos
1888 George Eastman invented roll film, popularized snapshot camera
1898 Photos pivotal in Spanish-American War coverage by yellow press
1928 New York Daily News front cover depicted execution of Ruth Snyder
1936 Life began publication, representing zenith of photojournalism
1937 Crash of Hindenberg dramatized value of news photographs
Advertising
1200 Routine use of modern signs, names on artisans' shops
1476 William Caxton, early English printer, used printed flier to
promote book--earliest example of English-language printed ad
1660s Term "advertisement" generally adopted to describe commercial
information in newspapers
1704 First U.S. newspaper carried advertising (Boston News-Letter)
1842 Volney Palmer established early media buying service
1869 First U.S. ad agency: N.W. Ayer & Son (Wayland Ayer)
1900 Consumer culture well established, evidenced by exhibits at
Paris World's Fair
1905 John E. Kennedy terms "Advertising is salemanship in print,"
Albert Lasker of Lord & Thomas agency promotes "reason-why" copy
1922 First radio advertising; WEAF in New York (toll broadcasting)
1946 First commercial TV advertising
1952 First use of TV commercials in presidential elections
1957 Jim Vicary coins term subliminal advertising
1990s Trend toward agency consolidation, integrated marketing
communication (IMC)
Publicity/PR
1800 BC Sumerian bulletins told farmers how to improve crop yields
1622 AD Pope Gregory XV established College of Propaganda
1748 First news release (Kings College, later Columbia)
1788-89 The Federalist Papers advocated creation of U.S. government.
1820s Amos Kendall served as first presidential press secretary, a
member of Andrew Jackson's Kitchen cabinet.
1840s P.T. Barnum pioneered press agentry for the circus
1882 William Vanderbilt responded to media with his famous quote about
public reaction to changes by railroad: "The public be damned."
1902 First publicity agency created in U.S.
1906 Ivy Lee set up second publicity agency, issued Declaration of
Principles based on helping media and telling the truth
1917-18 U.S. Committee on Public Information pioneered use of PR by
government to support war effort, bond sales
1927 'Torches of Freedom' Easter Parade altered public opinion about
women smoking in public.
1941-45 U.S. Office of War Information provided PR support for WWII.
Telephony ("sound over distance")
1876 Alexander Graham Bell beat out Elisha Gray for first patent
1877 Bell System launched; decided to lease, not sell, equipment
1880 First exchange (switchboard) in New Haven, Connecticut
1893 Telefon Hirondo (Budapest) experimented with telephone programming
1934 Federal Communications Act brought telephony under federal regu-
lation to serve "public interest, convenience and necessity"
1949 Rural Electrification Act subsidized loans to extend service
1962 First communication satellite (Telstar)
1984 Breakup of Bell System into seven operating "Baby Bells"
Phonography ("writing with sound")
1877 Thomas Edison credited with first voice recording (phonograph)
1887 Emile Berliner's system allowed duplication (gramophone)
1890s American music popularized by John Phillip Sousa (marches), Scott
Joplin (ragtime) via recordings
1906 Lee DeForest's vacuum tube allowed amplifying voices
1920s Joseph Maxwell invented microphone
1940s Battle of the speeds: 78s, 33-l/3 LPs (Columbia), 45 EPs (RCA)
1951 DJ Alan Freed launched rock 'n' roll craze.
1978 Digital recording began
1983 Compact discs introduced
Motion Pictures
1824 Peter Roget recognized importance of persistence of images
1889 Thomas Edison and William Dickson invented first motion picture
camera (kinetograph) and viewer (kinetoscope)
1894 Auguste and Louis Lumiere adapted camera built by Robert Paul (from
Edison's design) to create cinemagraphe (basis for term cinema)
1895 Lumieres exhibited first motion pictures in Paris, adapted from
Emile Reynaud's earlier Theatre Optique; opened first movie theater
1896 Edison acquired projection system from inventors, promotes it as the
vitascope; first American theater opened in New York.
1902-3 Early motion picture classics produced by George Melies ("A Trip to
the Moon") and by Edwin S. Porter ("The Great Train Robbery")
1915 D.W. Griffith directed "The Birth of a Nation," followed next year
by "Intolerance," -- acknowledged as the father of modern movies.
1922 Fox Movietone News experimented with sound (phonofilm: sound on
film; perfected later by Lee DeForest)
1927 First sound motion picture ("The Jazz Singer" used vitaphone
technology with separate phonograph recording)
1930 Sound pictures became accepted standard;
1935 Kodachrome process popularized color films
1941 Orson Welles' "Citizen Kane" considered best artistic film
1946 Peak of movie attendance -- 90 million Americans attend weekly
1950s Movies responded to advent of television
1954 Movies began second runs on television
1977 Video cassette sales, rentals began
Radio
1864 Sir James Clerk Maxwell hypothesized about electromagnetic waves
1887 Henrich Hertz demonstrated, calibrated waves in laboratory
1888 Guglielmo Marconi created wireless telegraphy
1901 Marconi sent first wireless signal across Atlantic
1906 Reginald Fessenden conducted first experimental voice broadcast
1912 Sinking of Titanic heightened public awareness of "radio"
1919 Following use by military in World War I, consumer radio launched
in U.S. with creation of Radio Corporation of America
1920 First station began operation, KDKA in Pittsburgh
1922 First radio advertising, WEAF in New York
1926 Radio consortium dissolved; National Broadcasting Company
formed; AT&T focused on distribution of network broadcasts.
1927 CBS formed; William S. Paley took over control in 1928.
Radio Act of 1927 created commission to oversee U.S. broadcasting
1934 Federal Communications Commission Act passed
1938 Orson Welles' famous "War of the Worlds" broadcast
1943 ABC formed after divestiture of the NBC Blue network
1950s Gordon McClendon spearheaded station conversions to formats
1981 Deregulation removed many restrictions on broadcasters
Television
1923 Vladmir Zworykin invents iconoscope
1927 Philo T. Farnsworth obtained first television patent
1930 RCA, Westinghouse and GE pooled research efforts to develop
commercial TV system under Westinghouse physicist Vladmir Zworykin
1939 Commercial television unveiled to public at New York World's Fair
1941 FCC established commercial TV standards; about 10 experimental
stations operated during World War II
1946 Commercial broadcasting began; first network linked New York,
Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. by coaxial cable.
1948 Four-year freeze in license began (lifted in 1952 when FCC opened
up UHF to provide extra capacity)
1949 Community Antenna Television (CATV) began--predecessor to cable
1953 FCC picked RCA system as the standard for color transmission
1962 All TV sets required to have VHF (2-13) and UHF (14-82) channels
1966 Major networks begin all-color programming; FCC adopted standards
for cable operations.
1967 Public Broadcasting System established by U.S. Congress
1975 Satellite broadcasts to cable systems began; 1/2-inch betamax
and VHS recording systems introduced by Sony, JVC
1981 First home camcorders invented as successors to 8mm home movies
1985 Fox Network began limited operations
1994 Direct broadcast satellite service began to homes in U.S.
Broadcast News
1912 Sinking of Titanic heightened public awareness of "radio"
1916 Lee DeForest pioneered news reports of early presidential
elections
1920 KDKA reported results of Harding-Cox election; WWJ in
Detroit later began regular news broadcasts
1933 Associated Press began separate radio news service
1932-44 FDR capitalized on power of radio in famous "Fireside Chats"
1938 First network radio broadcasts on CBS, NBC
1947 First newscast: "Camel News Caravan" with John Cameron Swayze
1963 Network news broadcasts expanded to half-hour;JFK's assassination
brought drama direct to home TV sets.
1968-72 Vietnam War and protests dramatized power televised news coverage,
aided by advent of videotape and satellite transmission
1974 Televised Watergate hearings led to resignation of Richard Nixon
1980 Cable News Network began 24-hour TV operations
Computer-Mediated Communications
1642 Blaise Pascal invented first mechanical calculator
1833 Charles Babbage credited with inventing computer
1868 Christopher Sholes invented first typewriter; patented by
Eliphant Remington in 1874
1880s Herman Hollerith invented punch card system used in 1890 census.
His firm, founded in 1911, became predecessor to IBM.
1939 John V. Atasnoff and Clifford Berry invented first digital,
binary machine demonstrating principles later used in computers
1946 John von Neumann wrote influential paper outlining components of
basic computers known today
1951 UNIVAC became first commercial computer (invention of John
Mauchley and J. Presper Eckert at Remington-Rand); IBM Model
650 introduced two years later
1948 Transistors invented at Bell Labs, later used in amplifiers in
1953, radios in 1954)
1958 Computer circuit boards created by Jack Kirby (Texas Instruments)
1960s Minicomputers introduced
1962 First computerized game (William Higginbotham, Brookhaven Lab)
1969 U.S. Defense Department computer network created--model for
Internet (ARAPANET: Advanced Research Project Agency Network)
1975 Personal computers introduced by Edward Roberts (Altair), IBM
1984 Apple Macintosh combined earlier mouse and windows technologies
with graphic capability, simplified operations for consumers.
1990s Multimedia capabilities provided sound, video in PCs.
1992 National Research and Education Network (NREN) approved by
Congress to upgrade Internet.
Return to Hallahan Course Resources
Updated July 1996