Spiraling timeline of Technology*

Spiral of Technology

"...all human progress is in a circle; or, to use a more accurate and beautiful figure, in an ascending spiral curve."
The House of the Seven Gables
Nathaniel Hawthorne

This page provides a list of events which follow the development of technology from the beginning of the first century to the present. We have included events that deal with the modern numerical system and with electronic digital display and transfer. Pathways of communications as travel, literature, and language were not included. We want to emphasize that this list is not complete and will evolve as new entries are sent in. We feel that peace is directly related to good communication. We also wish to demonstrate with our use of the spiral and the frequency of events that communication is evolving and increasing exponentially.

To view a time period, click on the color code of the spiral.

1-1000

105 Paper invented by China.
190 Abacus created.
250 First book on Algebra written by Diophontus of Alexandria.
350 First calendars used in Mayan culture (Central America).
595 First documented decimal reckoning in India.
640 Block printing used in China.
765 Book printing in Japan.
1000 Arabic numerals introduced by Sylvester II.

1001-1500

1200 Leonardo Fibonacci (Italy) wrote first western textbook on Algebra.
1436 Johannes Gutenberg (Germany) invents movable letters for the printing press.

1501-1800

1501 10 million copies of 35,000 books printed in 1000 printing offices since 1445.
1729 Stephen Gray (England) discovers electrical conductivity.
1771 Luigi Galvanni (Italy) produces current electricity.
1787 Lammond demonstrates working telegraph in Paris.
1800 Electric battery invented by Alessando Volta.

1801-1866

1811 Friedrich Konig (German) invents first steam-powered printing press.
1840 Samuel Morse (U.S.) patents single-wire telegraph or "Morse code".
1858 First trans-Atlantic cable laid.
1860 Johan Philip Reis describes magnetic telephone.
1866 Trans-Atlantic cables successfully used.

1867-1900

1867 Alfred Nobel (Sweden) invents dynamite.
1868 Christoper Sholes (U.S.) patents typewriter.
1872 Thomas Edison (U.S.) invents duplex telegraph.
1876 Alexander Bell (U.S.) patents telegraph.
1878 Thomas Edison (U.S.) invents incandescent light and phonograph.
1879 William Crooks (English) invents cathode-ray tube.
1884 Ottmar Mergenthaler (German) patents the Lynotype machine.
1888 George Eastman (U.S.) produces the box camera.
1895 Lumiere brothers open first public cinema in Paris.
1896 Joseph Thompson discovers electrons.
1900 Horace Short demonstrates first loudspeaker from the Eiffel Tower.

1901-1950

1906 Reginald Fessenden (Canada) broadcasts first radio program.
1921 Teleprinter invented.
1921 Thomas Edison invents camera/phone.
1925 John Logie Baird (Scotland) demonstrates first television broadcast.
1930 Vannevar Bush (U.S.) introduces first analog computer.
1936 British Broadcasting Company (BBC) trasmits first open-circuit TV broadcast.
1943 Alan Turing (England) designs first electronic computer "Colossus".
1945 University of Pennsylvania tests the fully automatic computer ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integration and Computer). It could process 5,000 additions/second.
1947 Invention of transistor radio.

1951-1999

1951 UNIVAC 1 computer is first commercially manufactured computer.
1955 Use of Ultra-High Frequency (UHF).
1959 Robert Noyce (U.S.) invents integrated circuit chip made of silicon.
1959 Stereo-Gramaphone records created.
1964 Jack Kilby receives first patent for miniature electronic circuits.
1969 Edward Hoff (U.S.) invents first microprocessor.
1973 Godfrey Hounsfield (England)) invents first scanner.
1975 The first personal computer, Altair, is introduced.
1977 First fiber-optic cables developed.
1979 New production methods allow for smaller laser-scanning and faster computers.
1979 Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD) invented. (Digital watches, pocket TVs, etc.)
1980 Cellular phones were introduced; soon also fax machines.
1984 Break-up of ATandT allowed open competition within telephone industry in U.S.
1985 High capacity submarine cable laid between U.S. and Great Britain.
1986 32-bit computer chip introduced.
1987 Supercomputer, superconductors, and super VHS for videocasette recorder introduced.
1988 First fiber optic cable laid under the Atlantic Ocean (40,000 telephone calls/sec); High definition television (HDTV) introduced; digital video interactive technology developed.
1989 Mainframe and laptop computers introduced; advanced television signal first broadcasted.
1990 Multi-media computing text and audio graphics introduced; digital audio tape decks, photo CD's and miniature camcorders developed.
1991 Digital compact cassettes and pen computers introduced; multi-media grows.
1992 IBM and Apple creates software which can run on both machines; IBM and Toshiba of Japan and Siemens of Germany introduce dynamic random access memories (CD-ROM); Intel introduces "Pentium" computer.
1993 U.S. President Bill Clinton officially promotes Information Super Highway; LCD video and wide screen television introduced.
1994 30 million people use Internet and on-line services; power PC chips and digital satellite home systems introduced.
1995 Micropower impulse radar (MIR) or "radar-on-a-chip" introduced; High definition compatible digital (HDCD) technology; digital camcorder video camera introduced.