Communication Technology Timeline This timeline follows major changes in how humans record, transmit, reproduce, and share information—from writing and paper to telegraphy, radio, the Internet, smartphones, and generative AI. Which communication technologies most changed history? Writing, paper, printing, telegraphy, telephony, radio, television, satellites, computers, the Internet, the World Wide Web, and smartphones each dramatically reduced the cost or time required to store and transmit information. When did the Internet begin? There is no single birth date. ARPANET sent its first host-to-host message in 1969, TCP/IP became its standard protocol in 1983, and the World Wide Web was developed from 1989 into the early 1990s. Writing and Recorded Information c. 3,300 B.C. — Writing develops in Mesopotamia , allowing information to survive beyond memory and speech. c. 1,000 B.C. — Alphabetic writing systems spread through the Mediterranean, including the influential Phoenician alphabet . 1st–2nd centuries A.D. — Papermaking is refined in China. 7th–9th centuries — Woodblock printing spreads in East Asia. 11th century — Bi Sheng develops early movable type in China. c. 1450 — Gutenberg develops a European system of mechanical movable-type printing , helping make books far easier to reproduce. Communication at Electrical Speed 1830s–1840s — Practical electric telegraph systems make rapid long-distance messaging possible. 1858 — The first transatlantic telegraph cable briefly connects Europe and North America; a durable cable follows in 1866. 1876 — Alexander Graham Bell patents a practical telephone . 1877 — Thomas Edison demonstrates the phonograph , enabling recorded sound to be replayed. 1890s–1901 — Wireless radio communication advances from laboratory experiments to long-distance transmission. 1920s — Commercial radio broadcasting becomes a mass medium. 1930s–1950s — Television develops into a major form of mass communication. Satellites, Computers, and Networks 1947 — The transistor opens the way to smaller, more reliable electronics. 1958–1959 — The integrated circuit places multiple electronic components on a single chip.

1962 — Telstar 1 helps demonstrate live transatlantic television and satellite communications. 1965 — Intelsat I (Early Bird) begins commercial communications-satellite service. 1969 — ARPANET sends its first host-to-host message. 1970 — Low-loss fiber optics make high-capacity light-based communications practical. 1971 — The first widely recognized networked email system is developed on ARPANET. 1973 — Motorola demonstrates a handheld mobile-phone call . 1983 — ARPANET adopts TCP/IP , a major foundation of the modern Internet. The Web and Mobile Era 1989 — Tim Berners-Lee submits the proposal that becomes the World Wide Web . 1990 — The first web browser/editor and web server are running at CERN. 1993 — CERN places World Wide Web software in the public domain , helping accelerate worldwide adoption. 1990s — Consumer Internet access, search engines, email, and instant messaging expand rapidly. 2004–2006 — Social platforms including Facebook and Twitter help make social media a major communications layer. 2007 — Apple’s iPhone helps accelerate the shift to always-connected smartphone computing. 2009 — WhatsApp is founded as mobile messaging grows globally. 2020s — Video conferencing, cloud collaboration, short-form video, and encrypted messaging become central parts of work and social communication. 2022 — ChatGPT launches , popularizing conversational generative AI as a new interface for producing and accessing information. Why Communication Technology Changes History Each major reduction in the cost or time required to transmit information changes what societies can coordinate. Writing supports states and law; printing scales knowledge; telegraphy and telephony collapse distance; broadcasting creates mass audiences; networks and smartphones make global communication nearly instantaneous. Browse all History Topic Timelines Related timelines: Technology and Inventions Timeline · Scientific Discoveries Timeline · World History Timeline Selected references: Library of Congress Gutenberg guide ; Internet Society — Brief History of the Internet ; CERN — Birth of the Web .