從“周幽王烽火戲諸候”到“竹信”，從“漂流瓶”到人類歷史上第一份電報—“上帝創造了何等的奇蹟！”，百年間，通訊技術藉助現代科技飛速發展。現在，讓我們回過頭，看一看這一路上的風景。

　　中外電信史漫談

　　據考，中國古代的商周時期人們就知道用烽火來遠距離傳遞訊息，大家最熟悉的就是“為博美人一笑，周幽王烽火戲諸候”的故事。在國際電信聯盟出版的《電話一百年》一書中提到，公元968年，中國人發明了一種叫“竹信”的東西，它被認為是今天電話的雛形。雖然這些故事都反映了我們祖先的聰明才智，但是，要想了解近代電信科技的發展歷史，我們還是得從歐洲說起。

　　起源於歐洲

　　1793年，法國查佩兄弟倆在巴黎和里爾之間架設了一條230千米長的接力方式傳送資訊的托架式線路。這是一種由16個訊號塔組成的通訊系統。訊號機由訊號員在下邊通過繩子和滑輪，操縱支架的不同角度，表示相關的資訊。當時，法國和奧地利正在作戰，訊號系統只用一個小時就把從奧軍手中奪取埃斯河畔孔代的勝利訊息傳到巴黎。以後，比利時、荷蘭、義大利、德國及俄國等也先後建立了這樣的通訊系統。據說查佩兩兄弟之一是第一個使用“電報”這個詞的人。

　　歐洲對於遠距離傳送聲音的研究始於17世紀。英國著名的物理學家和化學家羅伯特·胡克首先提出了遠距離傳送話音的建議。而在1796年，休斯提出了用話筒接力傳送語音資訊的辦法，並且把這種通訊方式稱為—Telephone，一直延用至今。

　　1832年，美國醫生傑克遜在大西洋中航行的一艘郵船上，給旅客們講電磁鐵原理，旅客中41歲的美國畫家莫爾斯被深深地吸引住了。當時法國的訊號機體系只能憑視力所及傳訊數英里，莫爾斯夢想著用電流傳輸電磁訊號，瞬息之間把訊息傳送到數千英里之外。從此以後，莫爾斯的生活發生了根本的轉變。

　　莫爾斯從在電線中流動的電流在電線突然截止時會迸出火花這一事實得到啟發：如果將電流截止片刻發出火花作為一種訊號，電流接通而沒有火花作為另一種訊號，電流接通時間加長又作為一種訊號，這三種訊號組合起來，就可以代表全部的字母和數字，文字就可以通過電流在電線中傳到遠處了。1837年，莫爾斯終於設計出了著名的莫爾斯電碼，它是利用“點”、“劃”和“間隔”的不同組合來表示字母、數字、標點和符號。1844年5月24日，在華盛頓國會大廈聯邦最高法院會議廳裡，莫爾斯親手操縱著電報機，隨著一連串的“點”、“劃”訊號的發出，遠在64公里外的巴爾的摩城收到由“嘀”、“嗒”聲組成的世界上第一份電報。

　　誰發明了電話？

　　目前，大家公認的電話發明人是貝爾，他是在1876年2月14日在美國專利局申請電話專利權的。其實，就在他提出申請兩小時之後，一個名叫E·格雷的人也申請了電話專利權。

　　在他們兩個之前，歐洲已經有很多人在進行這方面的設想和研究。早在1854年，電話原理就已由法國人鮑薩爾設想出來了，6年之後德國人賴伊斯又重複了這個設想。原理是：將兩塊薄金屬片用電線相連，一方發出聲音時，金屬片振動，變成電，傳給對方。但這僅僅是一種設想，問題是送話器和受話器的構造，怎樣才能把聲音這種機械能轉換成電能，並進行傳送。

　　最初，貝爾用電磁開關來形成一開一閉的脈衝訊號，但是這對於聲波這樣高的頻率，這個方法顯然是行不通的。最後的成功源於一個偶然的發現，1875年6月2日，在一次試驗中，他把金屬片連線在電磁開關上，沒想到在這種狀態下，聲音奇妙地變成了電流。分析原理，原來是由於金屬片因聲音而振動，在其相連的電磁開關線圈中感生了電流。現在看來，這原理就是一個學過初中物理的學生也知道，但是那個時候這對於貝爾來說無疑是非常重要的發現。

　　格雷的設計原理與貝爾有所不同，是利用送話器內部液體的電阻變化，而受話器則與貝爾的完全相同。1877年，愛迪生又取得了發明碳粒送話器的專利。同時，還有很多人對電話的工作方式進行了各種各樣的改進。專利之爭錯綜複雜，直到1892年才算告一段落。造成這種局面的一個原因是，當時美國最大的西部聯合電報公司買下了格雷和愛迪生的專利權，與貝爾的電話公司對抗。長時期專利之爭的結果是雙方達成一項協議，西部聯合電報公司完全承認貝爾的專利權，從此不再染指電話業，交換條件是17年之內分享貝爾電話公司收入的20%。

　　技術發展

　　電話發明後的幾十年裡，圍繞著電話的經營、技術等問題，大量的專利被申請，Strowger的“自動撥號系統”減少了人工接線帶來的種種問題，乾電池的應用縮小了電話的體積，裝載線圈的應用減少了長距離傳輸的訊號損失。1906年，Lee De發明了電子試管，它的擴音功能領導了電話服務的方向。後來貝爾電話實驗室據此製成了電子三極體，這項研究具有重大意義。1915年1月25日，第一條跨區電話線在紐約和舊金山之間開通。它使用了2500噸銅絲，13萬根電線杆和無數的裝載線圈，沿途使用了3部真空管擴音機來加強訊號。1948年7月1日，貝爾實驗室的科學家發明了電晶體。這不僅僅對於電話發展有重大意義，對於人類生活的各個方面都有巨大的影響。其後幾十年裡，又有大量新技術出現，例如積體電路的生產和光纖的應用，這些都對通訊系統的發展起了非常重要的作用。

　　電話在中國

　　鴉片戰爭後，西方列強在中國掠奪土地和財富的同時，也為中國帶來了近代的郵政和電信。1900年，我國第一部市內電話在南京問世；1904年至1905年，俄國在煙臺至牛莊架設了無線電臺。中國古老的郵驛制度和民間通訊機構被先進的郵政和電信逐步替代。

　　中華民國時期，中國的郵電通訊仍然在西方列強的控制中。加上連年戰亂，通訊設施經常遭到破壞。抗戰時期，日本帝國主義出於戰爭需要和企圖長期統治中國的目的，改造和擴建了電信網路體系，他們利用當時中國經濟、技術的落後和政治制度的腐敗，通過在技術、裝置、維修、管理等方面對中國的通訊事業進行控制。

　　1949年以前，中國電信系統發展緩慢，到1949年，中國電話的普及率僅為0.05%，電話使用者只有26萬。

　　1949以後，中央人民政府迅速恢復和發展通訊。1958年建起來的北京電報大樓成為新中國通訊發展史的一個重要里程碑。十年“文革”，郵電再次遭受打擊，一直虧損，業務發展停滯。到1978年，全國電話普及率僅為0.38%，不及世界水平的1/10，佔世界1/5人口的中國擁有的話機總數還不到世界話機總數的1%，每200人中擁有話機還不到一部，比美國落後75年！交換機自動化比重低，大部分縣城、農村仍在使用“搖把子”，長途傳輸主要靠明線和模擬微波，即使北京每天也有20%的長途電話打不通，15%的要在1小時後才能接通。在電報大樓打電話的人還要帶著午飯去排隊。

　　1978年，全國電話容量359萬門，使用者214萬，普及率0.43%。

　　改革開放後，落後的通訊網路成為經濟發展的瓶頸，自上世紀80年代中期以來，中國政府加快了基礎電信設施的建設，到2003年3月，固定電話使用者數達22562.6億，移 動電話使用者22149.1億戶。

　　古今中外，多少人曾經為了更快更好地傳遞資訊而努力，在電信發展的一百多年時間裡，人們嘗試了各種通訊方式：最初的電報採用了類似“數字”的表達方式傳送資訊；其後以模擬訊號傳輸資訊的電話出現了；隨著技術的進步，數字方式以其明顯的優越性再次得到重視，數字程控交換機、數字移 動電話、光纖數字傳輸……歷史的車輪還在前進。

　　百年老電話

　　電話發明至今，從工作原理到外形設計都有不小的變化，下面就請大家跟隨我們一起去走走這條電話百年發展的道路。這些電話都是世界各地的古董電話收藏愛好者們的藏品。

　　1878年，手持電話

　　這部電話是由Werner Siemens於1878年在德國製造的。它的聽筒和話筒是一個，聽話和說話時交替使用。

　　1879年，盒式電話

　　這部電話配備了Viaduct製造公司生產的磁力發電機由紅木製成，還配有一個柱狀聽筒。

　　1880年，貝爾電話

　　這是第一種在歐洲使用的電話。它取代了電報，比裝有手柄的磁力發動機電話先進。

　　1881、1882年，磁力發電機壁式電話

　　左面的電話稱為美國貝爾型，1881年製造，由位於哥本哈根的國際貝爾電話公司使用。L.M.Ericsson製造。這款電話在上世紀末盛行。

　　1885年，“埃菲爾鐵塔”磁力發電機電話

　　這款電話由L. M. Ericsson於1885年製造。在當時這是第一款放在桌面上的電話。麥克風設在旋轉臂上，曲柄用來接通交換機。

　　1885、1902年，磁力發電機壁式電話

　　由Ferdinand E. Stensen於1885年在哥本哈根製造，是最早的一部由丹麥人制造的電話。這款是在霍森的Emil Mdlers電話公司製造的。

　　1885年，木支架桌式電話

　　生產廠商及產地不詳。　1892年，電動摺疊櫥式桌面電話

　　這種電話多數用於家庭、賓館和電話亭。　1892年，帶聽筒的“埃菲爾鐵塔式”電話

　　這是一部真正的經典電話，1892年，由L. M. Ericsson製造。這款電話流傳全世界，生產近百萬臺。　1893年，“咖啡壺式”電話

　　這款電話在丹麥只有幾個樣品，對收藏者來說它最富吸引力和收藏價值。　1899年，數字機械牆式電話

　　這種數字機械電話有牆式和桌式兩種。　1900年，直立桌式電話

　　這種圓肚形桌式電話是青銅鍍鎳的。在掛杆下面有一塊結實的電木。它還有一個可以炫耀的外設聽筒。　1900年，直立錐形桌面電話

　　這部電話有個綽號叫“油壺”，都是因為它的外形。　1900年，20線分離電話

　　本款是所謂的20線分離電話。只能用於內部通話，由L. M. Ericsson瑞典制造。　1901年，磁力發電機臺式電話

　　本款是1901年由Ferdinand E. Stensens Telefonfabrik在哥本哈根製造的。注意看它的聽筒，單獨掛在掛鉤上。可能是因為當時電話接入質量不高，有時必需用兩隻耳朵聽。　1902年，Kellogg角落臺式電話

　　這種角落臺式電話多數用於家庭、辦公室和電話亭。它是由美國哈得伍得電話公司製造的。是從加利弗尼亞一個小鎮的農夫手中買到的。　1902年，公用電池牆式電話

　　這種電話不需轉動手柄，拿起話筒直接與接線員通話。它是從舊金山一個古玩店中買來的。　1904年，磁力發電機共線電話

　　本款電話在1904由L.M.Ericssom製造。此款電話可由四個使用者共享一根電話線。　1753年2月17日，用電流進行通訊的設想首次在一本名為《蘇格蘭人》的雜誌上提出，文章署名為C.M.。

　　1784年8月15日，一種叫“遙望通訊”的視覺通訊方式首次在法國里爾和巴黎之間使用。

　　1796年，英國人休斯提出了用話筒接力傳送語音的辦法，並將之命名為Telephone，這個名字一直沿用至今。

　　1832年，俄國外交家希林製作出用電流計指標偏轉來接收資訊的電報機。

　　1835年，美國人莫爾斯發明了用電磁學原理用於電報傳輸的電報機。

　　1837年6月，英國人庫克獲得第一個電報發明專利權，他製作的電報機首先在鐵路上獲得使用。

　　1837～1838年，莫爾斯又發明了將電流“通”和“斷”來編制代表數字和字母的碼—莫爾斯碼。

　　1843年，莫爾斯修建成了從華盛頓到巴爾的摩的電報線路，全長64.4公里。

　　1844年5月24日，莫爾斯在國會大廈向巴爾的摩發出了人類歷史上第一份電報：“上帝創造了何等的奇蹟！”。

　　1850年8月28日，第一條海纜由約翰和雅各布·佈雷特兄弟倆在法國的格里斯-奈茲海角和英國的李塞蘭海角之間的公海里鋪設，但是，只拍發了幾份電報就中斷了。原來，有個打漁人用拖網鉤起了一段電纜，並截下一節高興地向別人誇耀這種稀少的“海草”標本，驚奇地說那裡裝滿了金子。

　　1876年3月10日，英國蘇格蘭人貝爾發明電話，“沃森先生，快來幫我”成了人類第一句通過電話傳送的語音。當時貝爾將話筒中的酸液濺到了腿上。

　　1879年，天津與大沽北塘炮臺之間架設了電報線。

　　1882年2月21日，丹高大北電報公司在上海外灘設立了電話交換所。

　　1895年，俄國人波波夫和義大利人馬可尼分別發明了無線電報機。

　　1897年5月18日，馬可尼進行橫跨布里斯托爾海峽的無線電通訊取得成功。

　　1900年，上海南京電報局開辦市內電話，當時只有16部電話。

　　1901年，馬可尼實現了隔著大西洋的無線電通訊。

　　1903年，無線電話試驗成功。

　　1907年11月8日，法國發明家愛德華·貝蘭在法國攝影協會大樓裡表演了他的研製成果—相片傳真。

　　1919年，帕爾姆和貝蘭德發明了“縱橫制接線器”。十年後，瑞典鬆茲瓦爾市建成了世界上第一個大型縱橫制電話局。

　　1920年7月，中華郵政開辦郵傳電報業務。

　　1937年，英國人裡夫斯提出用脈衝所有組合來傳送語音資訊的方法(脈衝編碼調製)。

　　1945年10月，英國人A·C·克拉克提出靜止衛星通訊的設想。

　　1946年，埃克特和莫奇利建成了世界上第一臺電子計算機。

　　1947年，美國貝爾實驗室提出了蜂窩通訊的概念，將移 動電話的服務區劃分成若干個小區，每個小區設立一個基站，構成蜂窩移 動通訊系統。

　　1950年12月，中國東北長途明線國際幹線工程建成，北京到莫斯科有線載波電路開放。

　　1954年7月，美國海軍利用月球表面對無線電波的反射進行了地球上兩地電話的傳輸試驗。並於1956年在華盛頓和夏威夷之間建立了通訊業務。

　　1956年，在英國和加拿大之間的大西洋海底鋪設完成了電話電纜，使遠距離的大陸之間電話通訊成為現實。

　　1957年10月4日，前蘇聯於成功地發射了第一顆人造衛星“衛星1號”。

　　1958年8月，首部國產12載波電話裝置在上海郵電器材廠研製成功。

　　1960年1月，中國首套1,000門縱橫制自動電話交換機在上海吳淞電話局開通使用。

　　1960年，美國物理學家梅曼用強大的普通光照到人造寶石上，製造出了比太陽光強1000萬倍的鐳射。

　　1962年，美國研究成功了脈碼調製裝置，用於電話的多路化通訊。

　　1965年，第一部由計算機控制的程控電話交換機在美國問世，標誌著一個電話新時代的開始。

　　1966年，英籍華人高錕提出以玻璃纖維進行遠距鐳射通訊的設想。

　　1969年，北京長途電信局安裝成功中國第一套全自動長途電話裝置。

　　1969年，美國國防部高階研究計劃署(ARPA)提出了研製ARPA網的計劃，1969年建成並投入執行，標誌著計算機通訊的發展進入了一個嶄新的紀元。

　　1970年，世界上第一部程控數字交換機在法國巴黎開通，這標誌著數字電話的全面實用和數字通訊新時代的到來。

　　1972年，國際電報電話諮詢委員會(CCITT)首次提出綜合業務數字網—ISDN的概念。

　　1974年，中日海底電纜開始建設，這是中國參與建設的首條國際海底電纜。

　　1975年，中國自行研製設計的縱橫制自動電話交換裝置通過國家鑑定，開始批量生產。

　　1976年3月，中國自己研製的首條大容量傳輸系統—1800路中同軸電纜載波系統在北京、上海、杭州建成投產，全長1700公里。

　　1982年，歐洲成立了GSM，任務是制訂泛歐移 動通訊漫遊的標準。

　　1982年，中國第一批投幣式公用電話在北京市東、西長安街等繁華街道出現，共22個投幣式公用電話亭。

　　1982年12月，從日本引進的首個萬門程控市話交換系統在福州市電信局投產使用，建成中國首個引進的程控電話局。

　　1983年，AMPS蜂窩系統在美國芝加哥開通。

　　1904年，“蜘蛛式”民用波段電話

　　L. M. Ericsson’s第一部民用波段電話。　1905年，芝加哥的樹式桌面電話

　　這部桌面電話被稱作“大腹便便”，因其手柄的中部隆起而得名。

　　1905年，門廊對講機

　　這是一部康涅狄格州電信公司的32門門廊對講機。

　　1905年，11數字撥號桌式電話

　　它採用了11個數字撥號的方式。

　　1907年，“德國模式”的電臺波段電話

　　於1907年在德國由E.Zwuetysch&Co製造，此款電話的出現可以一定程度解決通話等待時間太長的問題。

　　1907年，磁力發電機式電話

　　這部電話1907年由L.M.Ericsson製造。值得注意的是：接聽電話時，要將聽筒懸掛在分離的掛鉤上。這是當時電話生產商的統一標準。

　　1908年，CH-08擴音器電話

　　由KTAS推出。

　　1910年，互聯電話

　　這是一部由S.H. Couch公司生產的直立桌面互聯電話，用於辦公室間的通訊。

　　1912年，辦公用排列機

　　這部電話通過主機可同時帶有17個分機，每個分機都可以打出去，並且分機之間也可互相接通。

　　1912年，CH-08壁式電話

　　此款電話生產於1912年，由丹麥人在哥本哈根製造的，可自動收發電報。

　　1912年，磁力發電機電話

　　由在L.M.Ericsson製造的電報傳真電話，經常偏遠地區或小島上使用。

　　1914年，Magnavox抗噪音桌面電話

　　這部電話的獨特設計在於當對著話筒說話時，聲音穿過話頂部的小孔使電話中的振動板振動。噪音進入話筒時就會被消掉。其雙旋轉聽筒有助於阻止無用的噪音。　1914年，Magnavox抗噪音桌式電話B1型

　　同樣具有消除噪音的功能。

　　1914年，磁力發電機電話

　　於1914年在HORWENS製造，可以用來電報傳真。

　　1915年，Veau桌式電話

　　資料不詳。

　　1915年，家庭自制壁掛電話

　　這部電話在東俄勒崗一個廢棄的農場中發現。當地有近20個廢棄的農場的牆上留有掛過電話的痕跡。

　　1920年，磁力發電機壁式電話

　　這部電話於1904製造，並於1920更新，配備了可接、聽轉換的旋轉紅色按鈕。

　　1927年，D-08半自動電話

　　第一部撥號電話，它的出現將代替交換機的人工呼叫系統。撥號裝置是在1927年安裝的，它真正使用是在1978年。

　　1927年，交流發電振鈴電話

　　由Kristian Kirks Telefonfabrikker在丹麥Horsens製造，70年代仍在使用。

　　1929年，自動壁式電話

　　資料不詳。

　　1930年，D-30半自動鍍金電話

　　此款電話是丹麥企業在1930完成製造的，其特別之處是表面鍍金，而當時多數電話漆黑的，並且此電話有撥號裝置。

　　1930年，FL-30自動電話

　　30年代由丹麥製造的，它用字母撥號。同類電話使用了大約48年。

　　1935年，自動電話

　　此款電話被用於與偏遠地區的電信交換機的聯絡，它的設計受到30年代美國電話業的影響。

　　1943年，CB-43型電話

　　這部電話是由Kristian Kirks Telefonfabrikker在丹麥製造，它內部設計兩種振鈴聲，用於區別市內外來電。

　　1951年，F-51自動撥號電話

　　這部電話是由Kristian Kirks Telefonfabrikker在二次世界大戰之後製造的。

　　1952年，F-52自動撥號電話機

　　於1952製造，不同於往日黑色電木材料，它是用象牙和較晚一些出現的塑料材料製成。

　　1956年，“Ericofon”自動撥號電話

　　此款電話由瑞典L.M.Ericsson設計和製造，命名為Ericofon。它是用新型的材料製成的，比傳統電話的聽筒還輕得多。

　　1968年，F-68自動撥號電話

　　這部電話是七十年代最為常見的電話，它最初設計是在六十年代，在丹麥被廣泛製造生產。

　　1970年，F-68按鈕撥號電話

　　丹麥首次使用的按鈕電話，這部電話是用數字按鈕代替原來的撥號方式。

　　1976年，76E/DK80型按鈕撥號電話

　　在1972由Jutland Telephone公司最初製造的。

　　1979年，F-79按鈕撥號式計費電話

　　此款電話介於普通電話與公用電話之間，它主要用於服務場所、旅館等類似地方，可以防盜打電話功能。　1980年，DA-80按鈕撥號電話

　　這部電話的設計標誌著電子學理論真正進入電話行業。

　　1982年，行動式電報電話

　　此款電話由Ericsson無線系統所製造，當時它只能在丹麥、芬蘭、挪威及瑞典等國家使用，它的出現為以後GSM移 動電話系統開闢了新的天地。

　　1983年，DanMark 2按鈕電話

　　DanMark2於1983年製造，是八十年代最先進技術的體現。它具有許多功能，如電話號碼記憶功能、重撥功能、監聽功能、24種鈴聲。

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.