Home > Articles > M&M > A History of the Digital Music Revolution - Part I

PART I:

The Dark Ages: 

When Time Stood Still

 

 

INTRO

PART I

PART II

PART III

PART IV

PART V

 

 

 

 

1750 BC

The decimal system is in use in Egypt.

 

500 BC

The abacus is invented by the Babylonians.

 

100-300 AD

The first bound books are created in Europe.

 

600 AD

The first use of the zero (as an actual value, as opposed to a place-holder) appears in India.

 

1455

The printing press, with movable metal type, is invented by Johannes Gutenberg.

 

1600

The term "electricity" is first coined by English scientist William Gilbert.

 

1831

The electric telegraph is invented by Samuel Morse.

                       

1844

The first telegraphic message is sent by Samuel Morse on May 24th from Washington to Baltimore.  The message reads, “What hath God wrought?” 

 

1843

The first fax machine is patented by Alexander Bain.

 

1848

Boolean Algebra is invented by British Mathematician George Boole.  By representing logical expressions in a mathematical form, Boole paves the way for the development of the binary computer.

 

1861

The Pony Express mail delivery service begins in the United States.

 

1867

The first commercial typewriter is invented by Christopher Sholes, Carlos Glidden, and Samual Soule.

 

1876

The electric telephone is patented by Alexander Graham Bell.

 

1877

The phonograph is patented by Thomas Edison.

 

1889

The automatic telephone exchange (which in turn enables direct-dial telephones) is patented by Almon Strowger.

 

1898

The first telephone answering machines appear.

 

1899

The first magnetic recordings are performed by Valdemar Poulsen, using magnetized steel tape as recording medium, providing the foundation for mass data storage.

 

Quote of the Year:  "Everything that can be invented has already been invented."

–Charles H. Duell, director of the U.S. Patent Office

 

1902

The first transatlantic radio signals are sent by Guglielmo Marconi from Cornwall to Newfoundland.

 

1927

The first U.S. demonstration of television takes place on April 7, 1927, as the voice and image of Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover, is transmitted over telephone lines from Washington, D.C., to New York City to a group of newspaper reporters and dignitaries gathered in the auditorium of AT&T Bell Telephone Laboratories.

 

Quote of the Year:  “Today we have, in a sense, the transmission of sight for the first time in the world’s history.  Human genius has now destroyed the impediment of distance in a new respect, and in a manner hitherto unknown.”

–Herbert Hoover, Secretary of Commerce

 

1935

The first usable magnetic recording tape is invented in Germany by researchers at BASF, using strips of cellulose-acetylene (invented in 1932) instead of paper.

 

1938

Claude E. Shannon's Master's thesis describes how Boolean Logic (a system based on the concepts of AND, OR and NOT) can be used to represent the functions of switches in digital electronic circuit.  The concept is the basis of all digital electronic design today.

 

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GO TO:

   Introduction

   PART I:  The Dark Ages:  When Time Stood Still

   PART II:  Dawn of the Computer Age

   PART III:  Dawn of the Internet

   PART IV:  The Rise of (and Battle Over) the MP3

   PART V:  Life After Napster 

 

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