We take a look at the important timeline of how mass communication has been evolving since the invention of the movable type printing press by German inventor Johannes Gutenberg.
Brief Evolution of Mass Communication Since Gutenberg’s Printing Press
1440: The invention of Gutenberg’s Printing Press
German inventor Johannes Gutenberg invented the mechanized printing press in Europe that enabled the mass production of documents. The printing press was first used in 1455 to print the world’s first-known book printed by a movable type – the Gutenberg Bible.
Reference: Britannica Encyclopedia
1605: The world’s first printed newspapers
German publisher Johann Carlous published the world’s first printed newspaper called “Relation” (Full text: Relation aller Fürnemmen und gedenckwürdigen Historien) in 1605. However, some scholars have argued that the first newspaper was published in 1609, according to the year of the first preserved edition. This claim has been recognized by the World Association of Newspapers.
Reference: The Internet Archive & Britannica Encylopedia
1663: The World’s Earliest Magazine
In 1663, the earliest magazine, “Edifying Monthly Discussions” (Erbauliche Monaths-Unterredungen ), was published by Johann Rist, a German poet. Although the word “magazine” first appeared in 1731, when an English publisher Edward Cave published his periodical “The Gentleman’s Magazine.”
Reference: Britannica Encylopedia
1891: The invention of Kinetoscope and beyond
In 1891, Thomas Edison and William Dickson came up with an invention that would later develop into the motion picture projector – the kinetoscope. Edison’s and William’s invention was further developed by many mechanic and inventor, but it was the Lumière brothers (Auguste and Louis) who successfully refined the machine into cinématographe. In December 1895, the Lumière brothers screened “Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory” which was known as the world’s first commercial film screening in history.
Reference: Open Library of the University of Minnesota
1896: The world’s first Radio broadcast
Italian physicist Guglielmo Marconi invented and patented radio in 1896 in London, United Kingdom. In 1897, Gulielmo successfully sent the world’s first radio message “Can you hear me”.
Reference: Britannica Encyclopedia & The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
1925: The World’s first Television
British inventor John Logie Baird successfully invented the mechanical television in 1925. In 1929, Baird convinced the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) to allow him to produce 30-minute midnight shows three times per week.
Reference: Britannica Encyclopedia & The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
1989: The birth of the World Wide Web
Thanks to the invention of the internet in 1983, the World Wide Web was created in 1989 by British scientist Tim Berners-Lee while he was working at CERN. His invention went beyond Europe in December 1991 when the first web server was installed in California. These inventions have forever changed the media landscape, bringing us into the new media era.
Reference: Metro (UK), CERN, & BBVA Openmind
1990s to 2000s: The rise of new media
Since the invention of the internet and the world wide web, social media and social networking sites (they are different) have become increasingly popular, leading to the creation of today’s mainstream social media platforms such as Facebook in 2004, YouTube in 2005, Twitter in 2006, and so on.
Reference: TechTarget & National Institue of Mass Communication & Journalism, Ahmedabad
