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Cave
Paintings
Neanderthals paint pictures of men and animals on caves. |
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ACTA
DIURNA
Julius Caesar orders postings in public places of Acta Diurna
- quite possibly the world's first newspaper. |
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INVENTION
OF PAPER
Inspired by the process of making silk, T'sai Lun, a eunuch
in the Chinese court, invents paper. The art spreads through
Asia and the Middle East. It is later introduced by the Moors
to Europe. Paper replaces vellum as the print medium of choice. |
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BLOCK
PRINTING
A Chinese printer named Pi Sheng creates hundreds of blocks
out of clay in the form of Chinese letters, or "ideograms".
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BLOCK
PRINTED WORKS
Block printing is adapted by the Uigurs to print Buddhist writings
in the language of the Turks using phonecian and aramic alphabets,
among others, along with Sanksrit notes and chinese page numbers.
Now THAT'S multicultural! |
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EUROPEAN
NEWSPAPERS
Newspapers begin to be circulated in Europe. At this point,
they're few and far between. |
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FRENCH
'Système Postale
As they say in France, "le roi établit une système postale":
King Louis XI established a national postal service, the "Poste
Royale". |
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BOOKS
MORE POPULAR
Printed, paper books have now become much more common all over
Europe. About 10 million copies of
35 000 books have been printed! |
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A
GOOD START
The pencil is invented. "Black Lead", or "plumbago" (known today
as Graphite) was discovered by English shepherds near Keswick.
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Prehistoric cave
paintings at Lascaux, France. |
GREEK
TELEGRAPH
Trumpets, shouting, drums, smoke and fire signals, and mirrors
are used to convey messages throughout Greece. |
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POSTAL
SYSTEM
Couriers are used in Rome to carry mail throughout the empire,
mainly for the purposes of the Government. |
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DIAMOND
SUTRA
The Chinese have developed a method of 'block printing' using
inked carvings pressed with paper. The Diamond Sutra, one of
the first and oldest books to survive was published using this
method. |
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PAPER
MILL
Although paper mills have existed for almost four decades in
Mulsim Spain, the first Christian European paper mill is not
opened until this year at Herault, Fran. Nevertheless, parchment
is still the main writing medium used in the region. |
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PAPER
MOVES TO ENGLAND
Paper is now being used in England and most of Europe |
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MOVEABLE
TYPE
Johan Gutenberg uses the revolutionary moveable metal type,
used to print his famous "Gutenberg Bible" |
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PRINT
SHOP
The first publishing and print shop is opened in Veni by a frenchman
named Nicolas Jenson, who studied from Gutenberg. He pioneers
Roman letters, but most others continue to use Gothic typefaces
for several years. |
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SPECTACLES
Eyeglasses, or spectacles, are now available to educated Europeans
(or at least, those who can afford them). They can now read
and write, unhindered by poor eyesight. This is a breakthrough
in spreading literacy, at least among the rich. |
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POSTAL
SYSTEMS
MORE POPULAR
Postal systems, which, though private, are both regulated and
legalized, begin to sprout up all over Europe. |
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HEAR
YE, HEAR YE
In Germany, the first newspaper is published at Antwerp by
Abraham Verkoeven, the town printer and drunkard. Four years
later, two German newspapers, "Aviso Relation oder Zeitung"
and "Aller Furnemmen und Gedenkwürdigen Historien" are the
world's first REGULAR newspapers, debuting in January.
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