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Johannes Gutenberg invented the first moveable-type printing press around 1440, and finished its working version by approx. 1450. He adapted the metal moveable type for alphabetic scripts, which made mass book production in Europe much more accessible.
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The Boston News-Letter was first published on April 24th, 1704 by John Campbell. It is regarded as the first continuously published newspaper in the colony of Massachusetts, and contained news from Europe, the other colonies, as well as local news.
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On May 24th, 1844, Samuel Morse sent the first public telegraph message from Washington, D.C. to Baltimore, Maryland. The telegraph introduced the concept of instantaneous communication over long distances and revolutionized news delivery.
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During the late 19th century in the U.S., there was a rise in “yellow journalism”, which meant news that was based on sensationalism and crude exaggeration. Many started to use big headlines and illustrations to sell more papers.
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During 1920 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, KDKA became the world’s first commercially licensed radio station. Their first broadcast was on November 20th, reporting the results of the Harding-Cox presidential election. Radio was now seen as a faster way of delivering news compared to newspapers.
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During 1926 in London, Scottish inventor John Logie Baird gave the first public demonstration of a commercial television system. Using a rotating disk to scan moving images and transmit them to a screen, he displayed low resolution images of ventriloquist dummies. This laid the groundwork for future TV technology.
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Building off of the early ideas of J.C.R. Licklider, Bob Taylor initiated the ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network) project for the U.S. Department of Defense. ARPANET was the first major computer network and a precursor to modern day internet. It connected research institutions and allowed for communication/collaboration.
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On August 12th, 1981, IBM released their Model 5150, aka the IBM Personal Computer (PC). It was a revolutionary microcomputer and was significant for establishing PC’S in the mainstream market.
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On February 14th, 2005, YouTube’s domain name was registered onto the internet and the first video was uploaded on April 23rd by founders Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim. This transformed communication from a few broadcasters to millions of YouTube channels.
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On June 29th, 2007, Apple released their first iPhone in the United States. It was technology the first of its kind, combining a phone, iPod, and internet communicator all into one device. This made media so much more accessible as it contained everything you could need in a handheld device.