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世界电信发展百年历史 时间：2004/11/7 2:14:00来源：本站整理作者：蓝点我要评论(0)

　从“周幽王烽火戏诸候”到“竹信”，从“漂流瓶”到人类历史上第一份电报—“上帝创造了何等的奇迹！”，百年间，通信技术借助现代科技飞速发展。现在，让我们回过头，看一看这一路上的风景。

　　中外电信史漫谈

　　据考，中国古代的商周时期人们就知道用烽火来远距离传递消息，大家最熟悉的就是“为博美人一笑，周幽王烽火戏诸候”的故事。在国际电信联盟出版的《电话一百年》一书中提到，公元968年，中国人发明了一种叫“竹信”的东西，它被认为是今天电话的雏形。虽然这些故事都反映了我们祖先的聪明才智，但是，要想了解近代电信科技的发展历史，我们还是得从欧洲说起。

　　起源于欧洲

　　1793年，法国查佩兄弟俩在巴黎和里尔之间架设了一条230千米长的接力方式传送信息的托架式线路。这是一种由16个信号塔组成的通信系统。信号机由信号员在下边通过绳子和滑轮，操纵支架的不同角度，表示相关的信息。当时，法国和奥地利正在作战，信号系统只用一个小时就把从奥军手中夺取埃斯河畔孔代的胜利消息传到巴黎。以后，比利时、荷兰、意大利、德国及俄国等也先后建立了这样的通信系统。据说查佩两兄弟之一是第一个使用“电报”这个词的人。

　　欧洲对于远距离传送声音的研究始于17世纪。英国著名的物理学家和化学家罗伯特·胡克首先提出了远距离传送话音的建议。而在1796年，休斯提出了用话筒接力传送语音信息的办法，并且把这种通信方式称为—Telephone，一直延用至今。

　　1832年，美国医生杰克逊在大西洋中航行的一艘邮船上，给旅客们讲电磁铁原理，旅客中41岁的美国画家莫尔斯被深深地吸引住了。当时法国的信号机体系只能凭视力所及传讯数英里，莫尔斯梦想着用电流传输电磁信号，瞬息之间把消息传送到数千英里之外。从此以后，莫尔斯的生活发生了根本的转变。

　　莫尔斯从在电线中流动的电流在电线突然截止时会迸出火花这一事实得到启发：如果将电流截止片刻发出火花作为一种信号，电流接通而没有火花作为另一种信号，电流接通时间加长又作为一种信号，这三种信号组合起来，就可以代表全部的字母和数字，文字就可以通过电流在电线中传到远处了。1837年，莫尔斯终于设计出了著名的莫尔斯电码，它是利用“点”、“划”和“间隔”的不同组合来表示字母、数字、标点和符号。1844年5月24日，在华盛顿国会大厦联邦最高法院会议厅里，莫尔斯亲手操纵着电报机，随着一连串的“点”、“划”信号的发出，远在64公里外的巴尔的摩城收到由“嘀”、“嗒”声组成的世界上第一份电报。

　　谁发明了电话？

　　目前，大家公认的电话发明人是贝尔，他是在1876年2月14日在美国专利局申请电话专利权的。其实，就在他提出申请两小时之后，一个名叫E·格雷的人也申请了电话专利权。

　　在他们两个之前，欧洲已经有很多人在进行这方面的设想和研究。早在1854年，电话原理就已由法国人鲍萨尔设想出来了，6年之后德国人赖伊斯又重复了这个设想。原理是：将两块薄金属片用电线相连，一方发出声音时，金属片振动，变成电，传给对方。但这仅仅是一种设想，问题是送话器和受话器的构造，怎样才能把声音这种机械能转换成电能，并进行传送。

　　最初，贝尔用电磁开关来形成一开一闭的脉冲信号，但是这对于声波这样高的频率，这个方法显然是行不通的。最后的成功源于一个偶然的发现，1875年6月2日，在一次试验中，他把金属片连接在电磁开关上，没想到在这种状态下，声音奇妙地变成了电流。分析原理，原来是由于金属片因声音而振动，在其相连的电磁开关线圈中感生了电流。现在看来，这原理就是一个学过初中物理的学生也知道，但是那个时候这对于贝尔来说无疑是非常重要的发现。

　　格雷的设计原理与贝尔有所不同，是利用送话器内部液体的电阻变化，而受话器则与贝尔的完全相同。1877年，爱迪生又取得了发明碳粒送话器的专利。同时，还有很多人对电话的工作方式进行了各种各样的改进。专利之争错综复杂，直到1892年才算告一段落。造成这种局面的一个原因是，当时美国最大的西部联合电报公司买下了格雷和爱迪生的专利权，与贝尔的电话公司对抗。长时期专利之争的结果是双方达成一项协议，西部联合电报公司完全承认贝尔的专利权，从此不再染指电话业，交换条件是17年之内分享贝尔电话公司收入的20%。

　　技术发展

　　电话发明后的几十年里，围绕着电话的经营、技术等问题，大量的专利被申请，Strowger的“自动拨号系统”减少了人工接线带来的种种问题，干电池的应用缩小了电话的体积，装载线圈的应用减少了长距离传输的信号损失。1906年，Lee De发明了电子试管，它的扩音功能领导了电话服务的方向。后来贝尔电话实验室据此制成了电子三极管，这项研究具有重大意义。1915年1月25日，第一条跨区电话线在纽约和旧金山之间开通。它使用了2500吨铜丝，13万根电线杆和无数的装载线圈，沿途使用了3部真空管扩音机来加强信号。1948年7月1日，贝尔实验室的科学家发明了晶体管。这不仅仅对于电话发展有重大意义，对于人类生活的各个方面都有巨大的影响。其后几十年里，又有大量新技术出现，例如集成电路的生产和光纤的应用，这些都对通信系统的发展起了非常重要的作用。

　　电话在中国

　　鸦片战争后，西方列强在中国掠夺土地和财富的同时，也为中国带来了近代的邮政和电信。1900年，我国第一部市内电话在南京问世；1904年至1905年，俄国在烟台至牛庄架设了无线电台。中国古老的邮驿制度和民间通信机构被先进的邮政和电信逐步替代。

　　中华民国时期，中国的邮电通信仍然在西方列强的控制中。加上连年战乱，通信设施经常遭到破坏。抗战时期，日本帝国主义出于战争需要和企图长期统治中国的目的，改造和扩建了电信网络体系，他们利用当时中国经济、技术的落后和政治制度的腐败，通过在技术、设备、维修、管理等方面对中国的通信事业进行控制。

　　1949年以前，中国电信系统发展缓慢，到1949年，中国电话的普及率仅为0.05%，电话用户只有26万。

　　1949以后，中央人民政府迅速恢复和发展通信。1958年建起来的北京电报大楼成为新中国通讯发展史的一个重要里程碑。十年“文革”，邮电再次遭受打击，一直亏损，业务发展停滞。到1978年，全国电话普及率仅为0.38%，不及世界水平的1/10，占世界1/5人口的中国拥有的话机总数还不到世界话机总数的1%，每200人中拥有话机还不到一部，比美国落后75年！交换机自动化比重低，大部分县城、农村仍在使用“摇把子”，长途传输主要靠明线和模拟微波，即使北京每天也有20%的长途电话打不通，15%的要在1小时后才能接通。在电报大楼打电话的人还要带着午饭去排队。

　　1978年，全国电话容量359万门，用户214万，普及率0.43%。

　　改革开放后，落后的通信网络成为经济发展的瓶颈，自上世纪80年代中期以来，中国政府加快了基础电信设施的建设，到2003年3月，固定电话用户数达22562.6亿，移动电话用户22149.1亿户。

　　古今中外，多少人曾经为了更快更好地传递信息而努力，在电信发展的一百多年时间里，人们尝试了各种通信方式：最初的电报采用了类似“数字”的表达方式传送信息；其后以模拟信号传输信息的电话出现了；随着技术的进步，数字方式以其明显的优越性再次得到重视，数字程控交换机、数字移动电话、光纤数字传输……历史的车轮还在前进。

　　百年老电话

　　电话发明至今，从工作原理到外形设计都有不小的变化，下面就请大家跟随我们一起去走走这条电话百年发展的道路。这些电话都是世界各地的古董电话收藏爱好者们的藏品。

　　1878年，手持电话

　　这部电话是由Werner Siemens于1878年在德国制造的。它的听筒和话筒是一个，听话和说话时交替使用。

　　1879年，盒式电话

　　这部电话配备了Viaduct制造公司生产的磁力发电机由红木制成，还配有一个柱状听筒。

　　1880年，贝尔电话

　　这是第一种在欧洲使用的电话。它取代了电报，比装有手柄的磁力发动机电话先进。

　　1881、1882年，磁力发电机壁式电话

　　左面的电话称为美国贝尔型，1881年制造，由位于哥本哈根的国际贝尔电话公司使用。L.M.Ericsson制造。这款电话在上世纪末盛行。

　　1885年，“埃菲尔铁塔”磁力发电机电话

　　这款电话由L. M. Ericsson于1885年制造。在当时这是第一款放在桌面上的电话。麦克风设在旋转臂上，曲柄用来接通交换机。

　　1885、1902年，磁力发电机壁式电话

　　由Ferdinand E. Stensen于1885年在哥本哈根制造，是最早的一部由丹麦人制造的电话。这款是在霍森的Emil Mdlers电话公司制造的。

　　1885年，木支架桌式电话

　　生产厂商及产地不详。　1892年，电动折叠橱式桌面电话

　　这种电话多数用于家庭、宾馆和电话亭。　1892年，带听筒的“埃菲尔铁塔式”电话

　　这是一部真正的经典电话，1892年，由L. M. Ericsson制造。这款电话流传全世界，生产近百万台。　1893年，“咖啡壶式”电话

　　这款电话在丹麦只有几个样品，对收藏者来说它最富吸引力和收藏价值。　1899年，数字机械墙式电话

　　这种数字机械电话有墙式和桌式两种。　1900年，直立桌式电话

　　这种圆肚形桌式电话是青铜镀镍的。在挂杆下面有一块结实的电木。它还有一个可以炫耀的外设听筒。　1900年，直立锥形桌面电话

　　这部电话有个绰号叫“油壶”，都是因为它的外形。　1900年，20线分离电话

　　本款是所谓的20线分离电话。只能用于内部通话，由L. M. Ericsson瑞典制造。　1901年，磁力发电机台式电话

　　本款是1901年由Ferdinand E. Stensens Telefonfabrik在哥本哈根制造的。注意看它的听筒，单独挂在挂钩上。可能是因为当时电话接入质量不高，有时必需用两只耳朵听。　1902年，Kellogg角落台式电话

　　这种角落台式电话多数用于家庭、办公室和电话亭。它是由美国哈得伍得电话公司制造的。是从加利弗尼亚一个小镇的农夫手中买到的。　1902年，公用电池墙式电话

　　这种电话不需转动手柄，拿起话筒直接与接线员通话。它是从旧金山一个古玩店中买来的。　1904年，磁力发电机共线电话

　　本款电话在1904由L.M.Ericssom制造。此款电话可由四个用户共享一根电话线。　1753年2月17日，用电流进行通信的设想首次在一本名为《苏格兰人》的杂志上提出，文章署名为C.M.。

　　1784年8月15日，一种叫“遥望通信”的视觉通信方式首次在法国里尔和巴黎之间使用。

　　1796年，英国人休斯提出了用话筒接力传送语音的办法，并将之命名为Telephone，这个名字一直沿用至今。

　　1832年，俄国外交家希林制作出用电流计指针偏转来接收信息的电报机。

　　1835年，美国人莫尔斯发明了用电磁学原理用于电报传输的电报机。

　　1837年6月，英国人库克获得第一个电报发明专利权，他制作的电报机首先在铁路上获得使用。

　　1837～1838年，莫尔斯又发明了将电流“通”和“断”来编制代表数字和字母的码—莫尔斯码。

　　1843年，莫尔斯修建成了从华盛顿到巴尔的摩的电报线路，全长64.4公里。

　　1844年5月24日，莫尔斯在国会大厦向巴尔的摩发出了人类历史上第一份电报：“上帝创造了何等的奇迹！”。

　　1850年8月28日，第一条海缆由约翰和雅各布·布雷特兄弟俩在法国的格里斯-奈兹海角和英国的李塞兰海角之间的公海里铺设，但是，只拍发了几份电报就中断了。原来，有个打渔人用拖网钩起了一段电缆，并截下一节高兴地向别人夸耀这种稀少的“海草”标本，惊奇地说那里装满了金子。

　　1876年3月10日，英国苏格兰人贝尔发明电话，“沃森先生，快来帮我”成了人类第一句通过电话传送的语音。当时贝尔将话筒中的酸液溅到了腿上。

　　1879年，天津与大沽北塘炮台之间架设了电报线。

　　1882年2月21日，丹高大北电报公司在上海外滩设立了电话交换所。

　　1895年，俄国人波波夫和意大利人马可尼分别发明了无线电报机。

　　1897年5月18日，马可尼进行横跨布里斯托尔海峡的无线电通信取得成功。

　　1900年，上海南京电报局开办市内电话，当时只有16部电话。

　　1901年，马可尼实现了隔着大西洋的无线电通信。

　　1903年，无线电话试验成功。

　　1907年11月8日，法国发明家爱德华·贝兰在法国摄影协会大楼里表演了他的研制成果—相片传真。

　　1919年，帕尔姆和贝兰德发明了“纵横制接线器”。十年后，瑞典松兹瓦尔市建成了世界上第一个大型纵横制电话局。

　　1920年7月，中华邮政开办邮传电报业务。

　　1937年，英国人里夫斯提出用脉冲所有组合来传送语音信息的方法(脉冲编码调制)。

　　1945年10月，英国人A·C·克拉克提出静止卫星通信的设想。

　　1946年，埃克特和莫奇利建成了世界上第一台电子计算机。

　　1947年，美国贝尔实验室提出了蜂窝通信的概念，将移动电话的服务区划分成若干个小区，每个小区设立一个基站，构成蜂窝移动通信系统。

　　1950年12月，中国东北长途明线国际干线工程建成，北京到莫斯科有线载波电路开放。

　　1954年7月，美国海军利用月球表面对无线电波的反射进行了地球上两地电话的传输试验。并于1956年在华盛顿和夏威夷之间建立了通信业务。

　　1956年，在英国和加拿大之间的大西洋海底铺设完成了电话电缆，使远距离的大陆之间电话通信成为现实。

　　1957年10月4日，前苏联于成功地发射了第一颗人造卫星“卫星1号”。

　　1958年8月，首部国产12载波电话设备在上海邮电器材厂研制成功。

　　1960年1月，中国首套1,000门纵横制自动电话交换机在上海吴淞电话局开通使用。

　　1960年，美国物理学家梅曼用强大的普通光照到人造宝石上，制造出了比太阳光强1000万倍的激光。

　　1962年，美国研究成功了脉码调制设备，用于电话的多路化通信。

　　1965年，第一部由计算机控制的程控电话交换机在美国问世，标志着一个电话新时代的开始。

　　1966年，英籍华人高锟提出以玻璃纤维进行远距激光通信的设想。

　　1969年，北京长途电信局安装成功中国第一套全自动长途电话设备。

　　1969年，美国国防部高级研究计划署(ARPA)提出了研制ARPA网的计划，1969年建成并投入运行，标志著计算机通信的发展进入了一个崭新的纪元。

　　1970年，世界上第一部程控数字交换机在法国巴黎开通，这标志著数字电话的全面实用和数字通信新时代的到来。

　　1972年，国际电报电话咨询委员会(CCITT)首次提出综合业务数字网—ISDN的概念。

　　1974年，中日海底电缆开始建设，这是中国参与建设的首条国际海底电缆。

　　1975年，中国自行研制设计的纵横制自动电话交换设备通过国家鉴定，开始批量生产。

　　1976年3月，中国自己研制的首条大容量传输系统—1800路中同轴电缆载波系统在北京、上海、杭州建成投产，全长1700公里。

　　1982年，欧洲成立了GSM，任务是制订泛欧移动通信漫游的标准。

　　1982年，中国第一批投币式公用电话在北京市东、西长安街等繁华街道出现，共22个投币式公用电话亭。

　　1982年12月，从日本引进的首个万门程控市话交换系统在福州市电信局投产使用，建成中国首个引进的程控电话局。

　　1983年，AMPS蜂窝系统在美国芝加哥开通。

　　1904年，“蜘蛛式”民用波段电话

　　L. M. Ericsson’s第一部民用波段电话。　1905年，芝加哥的树式桌面电话

　　这部桌面电话被称作“大腹便便”，因其手柄的中部隆起而得名。

　　1905年，门廊对讲机

　　这是一部康涅狄格州电信公司的32门门廊对讲机。

　　1905年，11数字拨号桌式电话

　　它采用了11个数字拨号的方式。

　　1907年，“德国模式”的电台波段电话

　　于1907年在德国由E.Zwuetysch&Co制造，此款电话的出现可以一定程度解决通话等待时间太长的问题。

　　1907年，磁力发电机式电话

　　这部电话1907年由L.M.Ericsson制造。值得注意的是：接听电话时，要将听筒悬挂在分离的挂钩上。这是当时电话生产商的统一标准。

　　1908年，CH-08扩音器电话

　　由KTAS推出。

　　1910年，互联电话

　　这是一部由S.H. Couch公司生产的直立桌面互联电话，用于办公室间的通信。

　　1912年，办公用排列机

　　这部电话通过主机可同时带有17个分机，每个分机都可以打出去，并且分机之间也可互相接通。

　　1912年，CH-08壁式电话

　　此款电话生产于1912年，由丹麦人在哥本哈根制造的，可自动收发电报。

　　1912年，磁力发电机电话

　　由在L.M.Ericsson制造的电报传真电话，经常偏远地区或小岛上使用。

　　1914年，Magnavox抗噪音桌面电话

　　这部电话的独特设计在于当对着话筒说话时，声音穿过话顶部的小孔使电话中的振动板振动。噪音进入话筒时就会被消掉。其双旋转听筒有助于阻止无用的噪音。　1914年，Magnavox抗噪音桌式电话B1型

　　同样具有消除噪音的功能。

　　1914年，磁力发电机电话

　　于1914年在HORWENS制造，可以用来电报传真。

　　1915年，Veau桌式电话

　　资料不详。

　　1915年，家庭自制壁挂电话

　　这部电话在东俄勒岗一个废弃的农场中发现。当地有近20个废弃的农场的墙上留有挂过电话的痕迹。

　　1920年，磁力发电机壁式电话

　　这部电话于1904制造，并于1920更新，配备了可接、听转换的旋转红色按钮。

　　1927年，D-08半自动电话

　　第一部拨号电话，它的出现将代替交换机的人工呼叫系统。拨号装置是在1927年安装的，它真正使用是在1978年。

　　1927年，交流发电振铃电话

　　由Kristian Kirks Telefonfabrikker在丹麦Horsens制造，70年代仍在使用。

　　1929年，自动壁式电话

　　资料不详。

　　1930年，D-30半自动镀金电话

　　此款电话是丹麦企业在1930完成制造的，其特别之处是表面镀金，而当时多数电话漆黑的，并且此电话有拨号装置。

　　1930年，FL-30自动电话

　　30年代由丹麦制造的，它用字母拨号。同类电话使用了大约48年。

　　1935年，自动电话

　　此款电话被用于与偏远地区的电信交换机的联络，它的设计受到30年代美国电话业的影响。

　　1943年，CB-43型电话

　　这部电话是由Kristian Kirks Telefonfabrikker在丹麦制造，它内部设计两种振铃声，用于区别市内外来电。

　　1951年，F-51自动拨号电话

　　这部电话是由Kristian Kirks Telefonfabrikker在二次世界大战之后制造的。

　　1952年，F-52自动拨号电话机

　　于1952制造，不同于往日黑色电木材料，它是用象牙和较晚一些出现的塑料材料制成。

　　1956年，“Ericofon”自动拨号电话

　　此款电话由瑞典L.M.Ericsson设计和制造，命名为Ericofon。它是用新型的材料制成的，比传统电话的听筒还轻得多。

　　1968年，F-68自动拨号电话

　　这部电话是七十年代最为常见的电话，它最初设计是在六十年代，在丹麦被广泛制造生产。

　　1970年，F-68按钮拨号电话

　　丹麦首次使用的按钮电话，这部电话是用数字按钮代替原来的拨号方式。

　　1976年，76E/DK80型按钮拨号电话

　　在1972由Jutland Telephone公司最初制造的。

　　1979年，F-79按钮拨号式计费电话

　　此款电话介于普通电话与公用电话之间，它主要用于服务场所、旅馆等类似地方，可以防盗打电话功能。　1980年，DA-80按钮拨号电话

　　这部电话的设计标志着电子学理论真正进入电话行业。

　　1982年，便携式电报电话

　　此款电话由Ericsson无线系统所制造，当时它只能在丹麦、芬兰、挪威及瑞典等国家使用，它的出现为以后GSM移动电话系统开辟了新的天地。

　　1983年，DanMark 2按钮电话

　　DanMark2于1983年制造，是八十年代最先进技术的体现。它具有许多功能，如电话号码记忆功能、重拨功能、监听功能、24种铃声。

Modern Communications Technology Timeline

Technology Timeline: 1752 - 1990

1752 Lightning Rod
Benjamin Franklin’s electricity experiments lead him to a valuable application -- the lightning rod, which when placed at the apex of a barn, church steeple, or other structure, conducts lightning bolts harmlessly into the ground.

1776 Submarine
David Bushnell’s "Turtle" submerges by taking water into its tanks and reverses the process to rise. It moves by means of a hand crank propeller. The "Turtle" is used in an attack on Lord Howe’s Flagship "Eagle," but attempts to attach a mine to the Eagle’s hull fail.

1790 First U.S. Patent
The United States issues its first patent to William Pollard of Philadelphia. His machine roves and spins cotton.

1794 Cotton Gin
Eli Whitney patents his machine to comb and deseed bolls of cotton. His invention makes possible a revolution in the cotton industry and the rise of "King Cotton" as the main cash crop in the South, but will never make him rich. Instead of buying his machine, farmers built bogus versions of their own.

1797 Interchangeable Parts
Eli Whitney contracts to manufacture 10,000 muskets for the U.S. Army. At the time, an entire musket would be made by a single person, without standardized measurements. Whitney divided the labor into several discrete steps and standardized parts to make them interchangeable.

1801 Steam-Powered Pumping Station
The Fairmount Water Works harnesses steam power to provide water for the city of Philadelphia.

1803 Spray Gun
Dr. Alan de Vilbiss of Toledo, Ohio, invented this device to replace swabs as the method of applying medication to oral and nasal passages.

1805 Amphibious Vehicle
Oliver Evans’ "Orukter Amphibolos" dredges the waters near the Philadelphia docks. Its steam-powered engine drove either wooden wheels or a paddle wheel. Evans demonstrated his machine in Philadelphia’s Center Square, where he passed the hat for money.

1806 Coffee Pot
Coffee drinkers the world over no longer have to chew their brew. Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, invents a coffee pot with a metal sieve to strain away the grounds.

1807 Steamboat
Robert Fulton, former miniaturist and landscape painter, opens American rivers to two-way travel. His steamboat the "Clermont" travels 150 miles upstream between New York and Albany at an average speed of 5 mph.

1813 Armored Warship
Steam power enhances military power. Robert Fulton’s "Demolos" sails. At 140 ft. in length, it carries a thirty 32-pound cannon.

1814 Plough
Farmers had furrowed the rocky soil of New England with wooden-tipped ploughs. John Jethro Woods of Poplar Ridge, New York, creates a plough with a replaceable cast-iron tip, making farming in America easier.

1817 Erie Canal
Overland travel in the 1800s is slow and arduous. Engineers propose a plan to supplement natural water systems by digging a 363 mile canal to connect the Hudson River with Lake Erie. The "Seneca Chief" will make the inaugural run through the Erie Canal in 1825.

1818 Profile Lathe
Thomas Blanchard of Middlebury, Connecticut, builds a woodworking lathe that does the work of 13 men. His invention helps to lower wood prices.

1830 Electro-magnetic Motor
Joseph Henry, Professor of Mathematics and Natural Science at the Albany Academy, builds a motor employing the electromagnet, invented by William Sturgeon in London just five years earlier. Henry’s motor has no practical use.

1831 Reaping Machine
The McCormick Reaper, which cut grain much faster than a man with a scythe, failed to catch on. McCormick sold the first unit around 1840; by 1844, only 50 had sold. After taking his operation to Chicago, McCormick prospered. By 1871 his company was selling 10,000 reapers per year.

1833 Sewing Machine
Walter Hunt invents the first lock-stitch sewing machine, but loses interest and does not patent his invention. Later, Elias Howe secures patent on an original lock-stitch machine, but fails to manufacture and sell it. Still later, Isaac Singer infringes on Howe’s patent to make his own machine, which makes Singer rich. Hunt also invents the safety pin, which he sells outright for $400.

1834 Threshing Machine
John A. and Hiram Abial Pitts invent a machine that automatically threshes and separates grain from chaff, freeing farmers from a slow and laborious process.

1836 Revolver
To finance the development of his "six shooter," Samuel Colt traveled the lecture circuit, giving demonstrations of laughing gas. Colt’s new weapon failed to catch on, and he went bankrupt in 1842 at age 28. He reorganized and sold his first major order to the War Department during the Mexican War in 1846, and went on to become rich.

1837 Power Tools
Thomas Davenport of Brandon, Vermont, is one of the first to find a practical application for the electric motor. He uses a motor he built to power shop machinery and also builds the first electric model railroad car.

1840 Paint Tube
John Rand invents a collapsible metal squeeze tube. The container immediately hits markets in Europe, where it is used to hold and dispense artists’ pigments.

1842 Ether Anesthesia
Crawford Williamson Long, of Jefferson, Georgia, performs the first operation using an ether-based anesthesia, when he removes a tumor from the neck of Mr. James Venable. Long will not reveal his discovery until 1849.

1843 Vulcanized Rubber
Rubber, so named because it could erase pencil, had long been considered a waterproofing agent, but in its natural state, it melted in hot weather and froze solid in the cold. After ten years of tireless work and abject poverty, Charles Goodyear perfects his process for "vulcanizing" rubber, or combining it with sulfur to create a soft, pliable substance unaffected by temperature.

1844 Telegraph
Samuel F.B. Morse demonstrates his telegraph by sending a message to Baltimore from the chambers of the Supreme Court in Washington, DC. The message, "What hath God wrought?," marks the beginning of a new era in communication.

1845 False Teeth
Cladius Ash helps Americans get a better grip on what they’re eating. He creates a new type of artificial dental wear featuring individual porcelain teeth mounted with steel springs.

1846 Cylinder Printing Press
Richard M. Hoe creates a revolution in printing by rolling a cylinder over stationary plates of inked type and using the cylinder to make an impression on paper. This eliminated the need for making impressions directly from the type plates themselves, which were heavy and difficult to maneuver.

1851 Crystal Palace
In a glass conservatory in London, the Great Exhibition begins. Among the 14,000 exhibits were Colt’s repeating pistol, Goodyear’s vulcanized rubber, and Gail Borden’s meat biscuit. More than six million visitors from around the world attended. The exhibition became a model for all World Fairs to come.

1857 Passenger Elevator
Elisha Graves Otis dramatically demonstrates his passenger elevator at the Crystal Palace Exposition in New York by cutting the elevator’s cables as it ascends a 300 foot tower. Otis’ unique safety braking system prevents the elevator from falling; his business prospects rise.

1858 Burglar Alarm
Edwin T. Holmes of Boston begins to sell electric burglar alarms. Later, his workshop will be used by Alexander Graham Bell as the young Bell pursues his invention of the telephone. Holmes will be the first person to have a home telephone.

1859 Oil Well
Drilling at Titusville, Pennsylvania, "Colonel" Edwin Drake strikes oil at a depth of 69.5 feet. Prior to that, oil, which had been used mostly as a lubricant and lamp fuel, had been obtained only at places where it seeped from the ground. Western Pennsylvania witnesses the world’s first oil boom.

1860 Repeating Rifle
B. Tyler Henry, chief designer for Oliver Fisher Winchester’s arms company, adapts a breech-loading rifle invented by Walter B. Hunt and creates a new lever action repeating rifle. First known as the Henry, the rifle will soon be famous as simply the Winchester.

1862 Battle of the Ironclads
For the first time, two armored ships battle each other at sea. The Union Monitor, designed from scratch by John Ericsson, features a two-cannon revolving turret and eight-inch plate armor. The Confederate Merrimac, a wooden hulled ship hastily outfitted with iron plates, holds it own against the Monitor. The two battle to a draw.

1863 Roller Skates
James Plimpton of Medford, Massachusetts, gives the world the first practical four-wheeled roller skate. This sets off a roller craze that quickly spreads across the U.S. and Europe.

1864 Oil Pipeline
Built in the oil fields at Pithole, Pennsylvania, Samuel van Syckel’s five-mile, pump-operated pipeline made oil transport infinitely easier. No one appreciated this less than the Teamsters, who saw the pipeline as a threat to their business and destroyed it. The determined van Syckel hired a crew of "pipeline protectors" and rebuilt the pipeline.

1865 Web Offset Printing
William Bullock introduced a printing press that could feed paper on a continuous roll and print both sides of the paper at once. Used first by the Philadelphia Ledger, the machine would become an American standard. It would also kill its maker, who died when he accidentally fell into one of his presses.

1867 Barbed Wire
Lucien B. Smith of Kent, Ohio, invents the product that will close down the open cattle ranges by closing in cattle onto individual plots of privately owned land. I.L. Ellwood and Company’s Glidden Steel Barb Wire will dominate the market; by 1890 the open range will be only a memory.

1870 Pneumatic Subway
Working in secret to hide his operation from Boss Tweed, who opposes it, Scientific American publisher Alfred Ely Beach builds a pneumatic subway under Broadway in New York. Beach’s single subway car, which features upholstered chairs and chandeliers is driven along the 300 foot tunnel by a 100 horsepower blower.

1873 Typewriter
Inspired by a Scientific American article featuring a British attempt at a typing machine, Christopher Latham Sholes invents his own. In 1873 he sells an improved prototype to Remington and Sons, gunsmiths, of Ilion, New York, who begin to mass produce the machines. Among the first works to be produced on a typewriter is Mark Twain’s "Adventures of Tom Sawyer."

1874 Structural Steel Bridge
Captain James Buchanan Eads finishes the bridge across the Mississippi at St. Louis. Using steel supplied by Andrew Carnegie, Eads incorporates a triple arch design, with spans measuring 502, 520, and 502 feet. The construction amazes the engineering world; Eads will be the first American engineer to be awarded the Albert Medal of the Royal Society of Arts in London.

1875 Electric Dental Drill
George F. Green of Kalamazoo, Michigan, replaces the agony of tooth decay with the anxiety of the dental drill when he invents an electric powered device to drill teeth.

1875 Mimeograph
While using paraffin in an attempt to invent and improve telegraphy tape, Thomas Alva Edison discovers a way to make duplicate copies of documents instead.

1876 Telephone
Alexander Graham Bell patents his telephone, built with the assistance of young self-trained engineer Thomas A. Watson. Elisha Gray, who developed a similar device at about the same time, will unsuccessfully challenge Bell’s patent.

1877 Phonograph
Working with a team of engineers at his Menlo Park, New Jersey, laboratories, Thomas Alva Edison perfects a system of sound recording and transmission. The first recording replayed is a voice saying "Mary had a little lamb its fleece was white as snow."

1879 Incandescent Light Bulb
Backed by $30,000 in research funds provided by investors including J.P. Morgan and the Vanderbilts, Thomas Edison perfects an incandescent light bulb. The first commercial incandescent system will be installed at the New York printing firm of Hinds and Ketcham in January, 1881.

1880 Hearing Aid
R.G. Rhodes improves on the ear trumpet with another primitive hearing aid. The device is a thin sheet of hard rubber or cardboard placed against teeth which conducts vibrations to the auditory nerve.

1882 Electric Fan
The world becomes a cooler place, thanks to the work of Dr. Schuyler Skaats Wheeler. His two-bladed desk fan is produced by the Crocker and Curtis electric motor company.

1884 Thrill Ride
L.N. Thompson, founder of Coney Island’s Luna Park, invites the first passengers to board his new thrill ride, the roller coaster. Thompson calls his new attraction the Switchback.

1885 Skyscraper
After the Great Fire of 1871, Chicago has become a magnet for daring experiments in architecture. William Le Baron Jenney completes the 10-story Home Insurance Company Building, the first to use steel-girder construction; more than twenty skyscrapers will be built in Chicago over the next 9 years.

1887 "Platter" Record
Edison’s tube recording system produces distorted sound because of gravity’s pressure on the playing stylus. Emile Berliner, a German immigrant living in Washington, DC, invents a process for recording sound on a horizontal disc. The "platter" record is born.

1888 Kodak Camera
In Rochester, New York, George Eastman introduces a hand-held box camera for portable use. The camera is pre-loaded with 100 exposure film; after shooting the photographer returns the whole camera to the manufacturer for development and a reload.

1889 Dishwasher
After ten years work and numerous prototypes, Mrs. WA Cockran of Shelbyville, Indiana, eases kitchen labor everywhere by producing a practicable dishwashing machine.

1891 Peep Show
Thomas A. Edison and William Dickson perfect their kinetoscope, a forerunner of the movie projector. Viewers watch through a small peephole as images pass between a lens and an electric light bulb at a rate of 46 frames per second. While the kinetoscope would lead directly to the development of moving pictures and the kingdom of Hollywood, Edison considered the kinetoscope as no more than a toy.

1891 Escalator
Jesse W. Reno, introduces a new novelty ride at Coney Island. His moving stairway elevates passengers on a conveyor belt at an angle of 25 degrees. The device will be shown at the Paris Exposition of 1900, where it is called the escalator.

1892 Gasoline-powered Car
In a loft in Springfield, Massachusetts, brothers Frank and Charles Duryea fabricate the first gasoline-powered automobile built in the United States. It will make its first successful run on the streets of Springfield in September, 1893.

1893 Zipper
At the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Whitcomb L. Judson introduces his clasp locker, a hook-and-eye device opened and closed by a sliding clasp. Improvements in the device by other inventors will continue; workers at B.F. Goodrich will coin the name "zipper" in 1923.

1896 Automatic Hat
James Boyle, of Washington, DC, makes public courtesy much more convenient for the modern gentleman. His new hat tips automatically.

1897 Player Piano
Edwin S. Votey, patents his self-playing piano, which he calls the pianola. The instrument uses instructions recorded on perforated paper to drive a set of artificial wooden fingers poised above a piano keyboard. Later versions placed the entire mechanism inside the body of the piano, eliminating the fingers.

1898 Submarine
The J.P. Holland torpedo boat company launches the first practical submarine, commissioned by the U.S. Navy. The test is successful. Holland gets orders for six more.

1901 Shaving
King Camp Gillette, former traveling hardware salesman of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, takes the risk out of shaving with his new double-edged safety razor. By the end of 1904, he will have sold 90,000 razors and 12,400,000 blades, but he will die in 1932 with his dream of a utopian society organized by engineers unrealized.

1902 Air Conditioning
Working as an engineer at the Buffalo Forge Company, Willis H. Carrier designs the first system to control temperature and humidity. He will go on to found his own company, the Carrier Corporation, to produce air-conditioning equipment.

1903 Airplane
At Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright break the powered flight barrier with their gasoline-powered "Flyer I." The first powered, sustained, and controlled airplane flight in history lasts 12 seconds. Wilbur pilots the machine. On a flight later that day, Orville will remain aloft 59 seconds and travel 852 feet.

1908 Model T
Car maker Henry Ford introduces his Model T automobile. By 1927, when it is discontinued, 15.5 million Models T’s will be sold in the U.S. Ford owes much of his success to his improved assembly line process, which by 1913 will produce a complete Model T every 93 minutes.

1911 Self Starter
Charles F. Kettering, who developed the electric cash register while working at National Cash Register, sells his electric automobile starters to the Cadillac company. This device increases the popularity of the gasoline-powered car, which no longer needs to be started with a hand crank.

1914 Panama Canal
After 36 years’ labor, the bankruptcy of thousands of investors, and the deaths of more than 25,000 men, the Panama Canal is finished. The canal cuts the sailing distance from the East Coast to the West Coast by more than 8,000 miles.

1917 War
U.S. troops arrive on the battlefields of Europe, where new technologies have created the bloodiest conflict in history. Armored tanks, machine guns, poisonous gas, submarines and airplanes will force military commanders to rethink traditional strategies of war.

1919 Hydrofoil
Alexander Grahams Bell’s "Hydrodome IV" sets a world record of 70 mph for water travel. The boat weighs over 10,000 pounds and uses underwater fins to raise the hull of the boat and decrease drag between the hull and the water.

1920 KDKA
The first regular commercial radio broadcasts begin when AM station KDKA of Pittsburgh delivers results of the Harding-Cox election to its listeners. Radio experiences immediate success; by the end of 1922, 563 other licensed stations will join KDKA.

1921 Wirephoto
The first electronically-transmitted photograph is sent by Western Union. The idea for a facsimile transmission was first proposed by Scottish clockmaker Alexander Bain in 1843.

1924 Execution
In an effort to make capital punishment more humane, the State of Nevada introduces death by gas chamber. Convicted murderer Gee John takes 6 minutes to die.

1926 Rocket
Robert H. Goddard, Professor of Physics at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, makes the first successful launch of a liquid-fueled rocket at his aunt Effie’s farm in Auburn, Massachusetts. The rocket reaches 41 ft. in altitude.

1927 Television
Philo Farnsworth demonstrates the first television for potential investors by broadcasting the image of a dollar sign. Farnsworth receives backing and applies for a patent, but ongoing patent battles with RCA will prevent Farnsworth from earning his share of the million-dollar industry his invention will create.

1929 Frozen Food
Clarence Birdseye offers his quick-frozen foods to the public. Birdseye got the idea during fur-trapping expeditions to Labrador in 1912 and 1916, where he saw the natives use freezing to preserve foods.

1931 Radio Astronomy
While trying to track down a source of electrical interference on telephone transmissions, Karl Guthe Jansky of Bell Telephone Laboratories discovers radio waves emanating from stars in outer space.

1932 Defibrillator
Working at the research facilities at Johns Hopkins University, Dr. William Bennett Kouwenhoven develops a device for jump-starting the heart with a burst of electricity.

1937 Chair Lift
Skiers no longer have to climb hills to enjoy their sport. Engineers from the Union Pacific Railroad build a chair lift for the Dollar Mountain resort in Sun Valley, Idaho. Dollar Mountain follows with an order for six more.

1938 Nylon
A team of researchers working under Wallace H. Carothers at E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company invents a plastic that can be drawn into strong, silk-like fibers. Nylon will soon become popular as a fabric for hosiery as well as industrial applications such as cordage.

1939 Digital Computer
John Atanasoff and Clifford Berry of Iowa State College complete the prototype of the first digital computer. It can store data and perform addition and subtractions using binary code. The next generation of the machine will be abandoned before it is completed due to the onset of World War II.

1940 Jeep
Karl K. Pabst of the Bantam Car. Co., Butler, Pennsylvania, produces a four-wheel drive vehicle that will become famous as the jeep. Given its name by its military designation, G.P., or general purpose, the jeep will be used for numerous transport applications throughout World War II, and will become a popular domestic vehicle after the war.

1942 Atomic Reaction
A team working under Italian refugee Enrico Fermi at the University of Chicago produces the first controlled, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction. This experiment and others will result in the development of the atomic bomb.

1945 Atomic Bomb
A team led by J.R. Oppenheimer, Arthur H. Compton, Enrico Fermi and Léo Szilard detonates the first atomic bomb at the Los Alamos Lab near Santa Fé, New Mexico. Following the tests, the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan -- one at Hiroshima, one at Nagasaki -- that claimed more than 100,000 lives.

1947 Polaroid Camera
Dr. Edwin H. Land introduces a new camera that can produce a developed photographic image in sixty seconds. Land will follow in the 1960s with a color model and eventually receive more than 500 patents for his innovations in light and plastics technologies.

1948 Electric Guitar
Leo Fender launches the guitars that built rock and roll when he debuts his Broadcaster solid-bodied electric guitar. Later renamed the Telecaster, the guitar will become a favorite with guitar slingers worldwide.

1951 UNIVAC 1
The Eckert and Mauchly Computer Co. of Philadelphia sells the first commercial computer, the UNIVAC 1, to the U.S. Census Bureau. The memory called up data by transmitting sonic pulses through tubes of mercury. An additional 45 UNIVAC 1 machines would eventually be sold.

1953 Heart-lung Machine
Dr. John H. Gibbon performs the first successful open heart surgery in which the blood is artificially circulated and oxygenated by a heart-lung machine. This new technology, which allows the surgeon to operate on a dry and motionless heart, greatly increases surgical treatment options for heart defects and disease.

1955 Nuclear Submarine
The Nautilus, the first nuclear submarine, revolutionizes naval warfare. Conventional submarines need two engines: a diesel engine to travel on the surface and an electric engine to travel submerged, where oxygen for a diesel engine is not available. The Nautilus, the first nuclear sub, can travel many thousands of miles below the surface with a single fuel charge.

1957 Polio Vaccine
Dr. Albert Sabin develops a polio vaccine using strains of polio too weak to cause infection but strong enough to activate the human immune system. His invention will put an end to the polio epidemics that have crippled thousands of children worldwide.

1958 Explorer I
Three months after the Soviet Union began the Space Age by launching Sputnik, the U.S. responds by sending the Explorer I satellite into orbit. Explorer I’s mission is to detect radiation; it discovers one of the Van Allen radiation belts.

1960 Laser
Working at Hughes Research Laboratories, physicist Theodore H. Maiman creates the first laser. The core of his laser consists of a man-made ruby -- a material that had been judged unsuitable by other scientists, who rejected crystal cores in favor of various gases.

1964 Operating System
IBM rolls out the OS/360, the first mass-produced computer operating system. Using the OS/360, all computers in the IBM 360 family could run any software program. Already IBM is a giant in the computer industry, controlling 70% of the market worldwide.

1965 Minicomputer
Digital Equipment introduces the PDP-8, the world’s first computer to use integrated circuit technology. Because of its relatively small size and its low $18,000 price tag, Digital sells several hundred units.

1969 Moon Landing
Millions watch worldwide as the landing module of NASA’s Apollo 11 spacecraft touches down on the moon’s surface and Neil Armstrong becomes the first human to set foot on the moon. President John F. Kennedy, who vowed to the world that the United States would put a human on the moon before 1970, has not lived to witness the moment.

1970 Optical Fiber
Corning Glass announces it has created a glass fiber so clear that it can communicate pulses of light. GTE and AT&T will soon begin experiments to transmit sound and image data using fiber optics, which will transform the communications industry.

1972 Video Game
Pong, one of the first mass-produced video games, has become the rage. Noland Bushnell, the 28 year-old inventor of Pong, will go on to found Atari.

1974 Barcode
The first shipments of bar-coded products arrive in American stores. Scanners at checkout stations read the codes using laser technology. The hand-punched keyboard cash register takes one step closer to obsolescence.

1975 Microsoft
Old high school friends Bill Gates and Paul Allen form a partnership known as Microsoft to write computer software. They sell their first software to Ed Roberts at MIT, which has produced the Altair 8800, the first microprocessor-based computer. Gates soon drops out of Harvard.

1976 Super Computer
Cray Research, Inc. introduces its first supercomputer, the Cray-1, which can perform operations at a rate of 240,000,000 calculations per second. Supercomputers designed by Seymour Cray will continue to dominate the market; the Cray 2, marketed in 1985, will be capable of 1,200,000,000 calculations per second.

1979 Human-Powered Flight
Cyclist Byron Allen crosses the English Channel in a pedal-powered aircraft called the Gossamer Albatross. The flight takes 2 hours, 49 minutes, and wins a [sterling]100,000 prize for its crew, headed by designer Dr. Paul MacCready. Constructed of Mylar, polystyrene, and carbon-fiber rods, the Albatross has a wingspan of 93 feet 10 inches and weighs about 70 pounds.

1981 Space Shuttle
For the first time, NASA successfully launches and lands its reusable spacecraft, the Space Shuttle. The shuttle can be used for a number of applications, including launch, retrieval, and repair of satellites and as a laboratory for physical experiments. While extremely successful, the shuttle program will suffer a disaster in 1986 when the shuttle Challenger explodes after takeoff, killing all on board.

1982 Artificial Heart
Dr. Robert Jarvik implants a permanent artificial heart, the Jarvik 7, into Dr. Barney Clark. The heart, powered by an external compressor, keeps Clark alive for 112 days.

1983 PC
In January "Time" names its 1982 "man" of the year -- the personal computer. PC’s have taken the world by storm, dramatically changing the way people communicate. IBM dominates the personal computer market, benefiting both from the production of its own machines as well as "clones" produced by other companies.

1985 Genetic Engineering
The USDA gives the go-ahead for the sale of the first genetically altered organism. The rapidly growing biotech industry will seek numerous patents, including one for a tomato that can be shipped when ripe.

1988 Graphic User Interface
Apple files a suit charging that Microsoft has pirated Apple’s user-friendly graphical interface. The suit will fail, and Microsoft’s star will continue to rise. By the mid 1990’s, Apple will be experiencing a painful and public financial shakeout.

1990 Hubble Telescope
The space shuttle Discovery deploys the Hubble Space telescope 350 miles above the Earth. Although initial flaws limit its capabilities, the Hubble will be responsible for numerous discoveries and advances in the understanding of space

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