Chronology of Communication Technology

-3500	The Sumerians develop cuneiform writing and the Egyptians develop hieroglyphic writing.
-1500	The Phoenicians develop an alphabet.
-170	Parchment is discovered in Pergamum.
105	Tsai Lun invents paper.
350	The Chinese develop a method for printing pages using symbols carved on a wooden block.
1450	The Chinese develop wooden block movable type printing.
1454	Johannes Gutenberg finishes a printing press with metal movable type.
1793	Claude Chappe establishes the first long-distance semaphore telegraph line.
1831	Joseph Henry proposes and builds an electric telegraph.
1835	Samuel Morse develops the Morse code.
1843	Samuel Morse builds the first long distance electric telegraph line.
1876	Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Watson exhibit an electric telephone.
1877	Thomas Edison patents the phonograph.
1889	Almon Strowger patents the direct dial telephone.
1901	Guglielmo Marconi transmits radio signals from Cornwall to Newfoundland.
1925	John Baird transmits the first television signal.
1958	Chester Carlson presents the first photocopier suitable for office use.
1966	Charles Kao realizes that silica-based waveguides offer a practical way to transmit light via total internal reflection.
1973	Akira Hasegawa and Fred Tappert propose the use of solitary waves to carry information in optical fibers.
1977	Donald Knuth begins work on \TeX.
1980	Linn Mollenauer, Rogers Stollen, and James Gordon demonstrate that solitary waves can be propagated through optical fibers.
1991	Anders Olsson transmits solitary waves through an optical fiber with a data rate of 32 billion bits per second.