Let's go back really, really, really far into the past, shall we?
25,000-30,000 B.C. there were cavemen and cavewomen who wanted to express themselves, show what they liked and their every day life, and thus the cave drawings were born! It was a way to communicate other than the grunts and body language (like pointing at what they want others to see) and began the process of (kind of) a written language. (click
Here to read more on cave drawings and symbols)
*This is what I think of when talking about cavemen-
Then, fast forwarding clay and Egyptian hieroglyphics starting from about 3300 B.C. for about the next 3,500 years ("The ancient Egyptian word for hieroglyphs, literally translated as "language of the gods," indicates their importance. Priests used hieroglyphs to write down prayers, magical texts, and texts related to life after death and worshiping the gods. When preparing their tombs, many people had autobiographies and hieroglyphic guides of the afterworld written on the surfaces of tomb walls and on the insides of coffins. The Egyptians believed that these texts helped guide the dead through the afterlife." click
Here to learn more about Egyptian Hieroglyphics)
Then in 1500 to about 1000 B.C., The Chinese were like "Well, we should probably get to doing some of this 'writing' nonsense, too." and so, the Chinese writing was created, and found on some bones as the first kind of their writing. This writing became the fundamentals for languages such as Japanese, Korean, Yi Scripts, Khitan ("a powerful Mongolian tribe that dominated Northern China and established the Liao dynasty between the 10th and 12th centuries BCE") etc. To read more on Chinese manuscripts history, click
Here
As time went by, others were also curious as to having their own little thing in communicating. The first alphabet to be created was the base for both the Latin and the Hebrew alphabets, the Palestine alphabet. "Ancient writers wrote on a variety of other materials besides papyrus, including pottery, animal hides, wood, and even ancient paper. There was, to a certain extent, a progression over time from the use of papyrus to parchment and later, paper"-
Here
Later, a guy named Johann Gutenberg created the world's first printing press in the 1450's and printed the first book, a Bible. "Between 1450 and 1455, the Gutenberg Bible was completed. Early documentation states that a total of 200 copies were scheduled to be printed on rag cotton linen paper, and 30 copies on velum animal skin. It is not known exactly how many copies were actually printed. Today, only 22 copies are known to exist, of which 7 are on velum". click
Here to learn more about this game changer.
After years and many different changes in the printing presses, someone by the name of Joseph Henry created the telegraph, then Samuel Morse created the Morse Code, and then Alexander Bain with the first fax machine in 1843.Click
Here for more.
Basically, humans became smarter and smarter and more innovative and eventually we ended up where we are today- living for technology. If it wasn't for these people evolving language and print and communication, we wouldn't have computers or maybe we'd even still be all cavemen-like and such, or maybe we would be cavemen with computers…? Who knows?
Then, fast forwarding clay and Egyptian hieroglyphics starting from about 3300 B.C. for about the next 3,500 years ("The ancient Egyptian word for hieroglyphs, literally translated as "language of the gods," indicates their importance. Priests used hieroglyphs to write down prayers, magical texts, and texts related to life after death and worshiping the gods. When preparing their tombs, many people had autobiographies and hieroglyphic guides of the afterworld written on the surfaces of tomb walls and on the insides of coffins. The Egyptians believed that these texts helped guide the dead through the afterlife." click Here to learn more about Egyptian Hieroglyphics)
Then in 1500 to about 1000 B.C., The Chinese were like "Well, we should probably get to doing some of this 'writing' nonsense, too." and so, the Chinese writing was created, and found on some bones as the first kind of their writing. This writing became the fundamentals for languages such as Japanese, Korean, Yi Scripts, Khitan ("a powerful Mongolian tribe that dominated Northern China and established the Liao dynasty between the 10th and 12th centuries BCE") etc. To read more on Chinese manuscripts history, click Here
As time went by, others were also curious as to having their own little thing in communicating. The first alphabet to be created was the base for both the Latin and the Hebrew alphabets, the Palestine alphabet. "Ancient writers wrote on a variety of other materials besides papyrus, including pottery, animal hides, wood, and even ancient paper. There was, to a certain extent, a progression over time from the use of papyrus to parchment and later, paper"- Here
Later, a guy named Johann Gutenberg created the world's first printing press in the 1450's and printed the first book, a Bible. "Between 1450 and 1455, the Gutenberg Bible was completed. Early documentation states that a total of 200 copies were scheduled to be printed on rag cotton linen paper, and 30 copies on velum animal skin. It is not known exactly how many copies were actually printed. Today, only 22 copies are known to exist, of which 7 are on velum". click Here to learn more about this game changer.
After years and many different changes in the printing presses, someone by the name of Joseph Henry created the telegraph, then Samuel Morse created the Morse Code, and then Alexander Bain with the first fax machine in 1843.Click Here for more.
Basically, humans became smarter and smarter and more innovative and eventually we ended up where we are today- living for technology. If it wasn't for these people evolving language and print and communication, we wouldn't have computers or maybe we'd even still be all cavemen-like and such, or maybe we would be cavemen with computers…? Who knows?
I really enjoyed this little history lesson. It was informative and entertaining. I always enjoy history lessons with a bit of personality in it instead of cut and dry information. The pictures posted were only an added bonus to my entertainment, while also relating to the topic mentioned. I didn't know the first Chinese writing became fundamental for Japanese and Korean; I thought those languages were completely separate from each other. Overall I enjoyed this and I learned some information I did not know already.
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