The history of communication dates back to the earliest signs of life. Communication can range from very subtle processes of exchange, to full conversations and mass communication. On a much shorter scale, there have been major developments in the field telecommunication. Look up life, living in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Communication is the process of exchanging information, usually via a common protocol. ... A conversation is civil communication by two or more people, often on a particular topic. ... Mass Communication is the term used to describe the academic study of various means by which individuals and entities relay information to large segments of the population all at once through mass media. ... BlackBerry 7100t Telecommunication refers to the communication of information at a distance. ...

Communication between animals

Communication between humans

• 200,000 BC: FOXP2 - gene that allowed better communication between humans
• symbols
  • 30,000 BC: first symbols: cave paintings
  • 10,000 BC: petroglyphs
• history of writing
  • 9,000 BC: pictographs, ideographs
  • 3,500 BC: writing systems
    • history of alphabet

FOXP2 (forkhead box P2) is a gene that is implicated in the development of language skills, including grammatical competence. ... Cave, or rock, paintings are paintings painted on cave or rock walls and ceilings, usually dating to pre_historic times. ... Petroglyphs on Newspaper Rock State Historic Monument, southern Utah, USA Petroglyphs are images incised in rock, usually by prehistoric, especially Neolithic, peoples. ... Writing systems evolved in the 4th millennium BC out of neolithic proto-writing. ... Pictogram for public toilets A pictogram or pictograph is a symbol which represents an object or a concept by illustration. ... A Chinese character. ... Writing Systems of the World today A Specimen of typeset fonts and languages, by William Caslon, letter founder; from the 1728 Cyclopaedia. ... The history of the alphabet starts in ancient Egypt. ...

The advent of mass communication

Main article: History of mass communication

• mass communication

Mass Communication is the term used to describe the academic study of various means by which individuals and entities relay information to large segments of the population all at once through mass media. ...

The expansion of telecommunication

Main article: History of telecommunication

The history of telecommunication predates what is commonly thought of as modern ideas and the systems currently in place today. ...

History of writing tools

Text editing and storage

• 3000 BC: papyrus
• 59 BC: first book, Acta Diurna ordered by Julius Caesar
• 100 AD: paper
• 1000 AD: pens, first Chineese printing presses (Pi Sheng)
• 1400 AD: first European printing presses (Gutenberg)
• 1500 AD: pencils
• 1800s: typewriter
• 1960s: computers and text editors (TECO, TJ-2)

Papyrus plant Cyperus papyrus at Kew Gardens, London Papyrus is an early form of paper made from the pith of the papyrus plant, Cyperus papyrus, a wetland sedge that grows to 5 meters (15 ft) in height and was once abundant in the Nile Delta of Egypt. ... Acta Diurna (lat: Daily Acts sometimes translated as Daily Public Records) were daily Roman official notices. ... Gaius Julius Caesar (IPA: ; Classical Latin: IMP•C•IVLIVS•CAESAR•DIVVS[1]), July 12, 100 BC – March 15, 44 BC) was a Roman military and political leader. ... Piece of paper Paper is a thin, flat material produced by the compression of fibers (or fibres). ... A ballpoint pen A pen is a writing instrument which applies ink to some surface. ... Pi Sheng was a person who invented the skills of the printing ... Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg (circa 1398 - February 3, 1468), a German metal-worker and inventor, achieved fame for his contributions to the technology of printing during about the 1450s, including a type metal alloy and oil-based inks, a mold for casting type accurately, and a new kind... It has been suggested that pencil lead be merged into this article or section. ... This Smith Premier typewriter, purchased around the end of the 19th century, was found abandoned in the Bodie ghost town. ... A computer is a machine designed for manipulating data according to a list of instructions known as a program. ... Notepad is the standard text editor for Microsoft Windows A text editor is a piece of computer software for editing plain text. ... TECO (pronounced /teekoh/; originally an acronym for [paper] Tape Editor and COrrector, but later Text Editor and COrrector) was a text editor developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the 1960s and was modified by just about everybody. With all the dialects included, TECO may have been...

Distance communication

• optical signals - fires, smoke signals
  • 490 BC: heliograph
  • 1790 AD: semaphore
• sound signals - drums
• 1400 AD: couriers, first postal systems
• 1838 AD: telegraph
• 1848 AD: telephone
• 1896 AD: radio
• 1897 AD: computer
• 1927 AD: television
• 1969 AD: computer networking
  • 1983 AD: Internet

Smoke signals is an early form of the optical telegraph, developed by the Native Americans and in China. ... Signaling with heliograph, 1910 A heliograph uses a mirror to reflect sunlight to a distant observer. ... Semaphore can refer to: Semaphore communication by means of flags or other positional indicators A mechanical device (a semaphore signal) used in railway signalling Semaphores in computer science, in which only one part of a concurrent system may access a limited resource; this application of mutual exclusion in computing was... Often invented and used by cultures living in forested areas, drums served as an early form of long distance communication, and were used during ceremonial and religious functions. ... Telegraphy (from the Greek words tele = far away and grapho = write) is the long distance transmission of written messages without physical transport of letters, originally over wire. ... The telephone or phone (Greek: tele = far away and phone = voice) is a telecommunications device which is used to transmit and receive sound (most commonly voice and speech) across distance. ... A computer is a machine designed for manipulating data according to a list of instructions known as a program. ... It has been suggested that Network computing be merged into this article or section. ...

References

• (Polish) Piotr Konieczny, Komunikacja: od mowy do Internetu, Histmag #49, article in Polish