A Media Time Line

[Dept of PMM Artists & things]

BCE
3500: In Sumer. pictographs of accounts written on clay tablets.
2600: Scribes employed in Egypt.
2400: In India, engraved seals identify the writer.
2200: Date of oldest existing document written on papyrus.
1500: Phoenician alphabet.
1400: Oldest record of writing in China, on bones.
1270: Syrian scholar compiles an encyclopedia.
900: China has an organized postal service for government use.
775: Greeks develop a phonetic alphabet, written from left to right.
530: In Greece, a library.
525-456 Aeschylus authors 90 plays, of which, 7 still exist most notably, Agamemnon

500: Greek version of the telegraph: trumpets, drums, shouting, beacon fires, smoke signals, mirrors.
500: Persia has a form of pony express.
500: Chinese scholars write on bamboo with reeds dipped in pigment.
450-385 Aristophanes authors many comedies, 11 are still in existence. Used satire as his main weapon against war. Considered to be the father of Burlesque.

400: Chinese write on silk as well as wood, bamboo.
350: Aristotle (384-322) writes the Poetics - analysis of dramatic structure
200: Books written on parchment and vellum.
59: Julius Caesar orders postings of Acta Diurna.
CE
100: Roman couriers carry government mail across the empire.
105: T'sai Lun invents paper.
175: Chinese classics are carved in stone which will later be used for rubbings.
180: In China, an elementary Zoetrope.
250: Paper use spreads to central Asia.
350: In Egypt, parchment book of Psalms bound in wood covers.
450: Ink on seals is stamped on paper in China. This is true printing.
600: Books printed in China.
765: Picture books printed in Japan.
875: Amazed travelers to China see toilet paper.
950: Paper use spreads west to Spain.
950: Folded books appear in China in place of rolls.
950: Bored women in a Chinese harem invent playing cards.
1000

1000: Mayas in Yucatan, Mexico, make writing paper from tree bark.
1035: Japanese use waste paper to make new paper.
1049: Pi Sheng fabricates movable type, using clay.
1116: Chinese sew pages to make stitched books.
1147: Crusader taken prisoner returns with papermaking art, according to a legend.
1200: European monasteries communicate by letter system.
1200: University of Paris starts messenger service.
1241: In Korea, metal type.
1282: In Italy, watermarks are added to paper.
1298: Marco Polo describes use of paper money in China.
1300: Wooden type found in central Asia.
1305: Taxis family begins private postal service in Europe.
1309: Paper is used in England.
1392: Koreans have a type foundry to produce bronze characters.
1423: Europeans begin Chinese method of block printing.
1450: A few newsletters begin circulating in Europe.
1451: Johnannes Gutenberg uses a press to print an old German poem.
1452: Metal plates are used in printing.
1453: Gutenberg prints the 42-line Bible.
1464: King of France establishes postal system.
1490: Printing of books on paper becomes more common in Europe.
1495: A paper mill is established in England.
1500

1500: 16th century - Painters and engravers use a camera obscura investigated by Leonardo Da Vinci (It. 1452– 1519)
1500: Arithmetic + and - symbols are used in Europe.
1500: By now approximately 35,000 books have been printed, some 10 million copies.

1500: commedia dell'arte started in 16th century Italy. Comedy Troupe of character actors improvise dialogue over a standardized plot. Used costume and developed many character types still familliar to us today.

1500: Punch and Judy - 16th century puppet show derrived from stock characters of commedia dell'arte. Spread across western civilization in the 17th - 19th centuries. Plot usually involves Punch besting the devil.
1520: Spectacles balance on the noses of Europe's educated.
1533: A postmaster in England.
1545: Garamond designs his typeface.
1550: Wallpaper brought to Europe from China by traders.
1560: In Italy, the portable camera obscura allows precise tracing of an image.
1560: Legalized, regulated private postal systems grow in Europe.

1564-1616 Shakespeare Writes his Plays. Cornerstone of all western drama and comedy. Command of the language and characterization are keys concepts to understanding his works.
1565: The pencil.
1609: First regularly published newspaper appears in Germany.
1627: France introduces registered mail.
1639: First printing press in the American colonies.
1640: Kirchner, a German Jesuit, builds a magic lantern.
1689: Newspapers are printed, at first as unfolded "broadsides."
1698: Public library opens in Charleston, SC