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GIDDYUP, POSTMAN!
The american 'Pony Express' carries mail between U.S. cities.
The 'pony express' is a network of messengers on horseback.
Mail is carried for the cost of two-ten dollars per ounce. 80
riders are ready to go, 24 hours a day, the ten-mile distance
between each of the 190 stations. |
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COLOUR
PHOTOGRAPHY
Coloring photographs is now possible. |
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CORDLESS
TRANSMISSION
Electromagnetic waves are transmitted 14 miles, without wires. |
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TYPEWRITERS
PRODUCED
Christopher Shoes, Carlos Glidden, and Samuel Soule receive
the patent for a typewriter. Businessmen James Densmore and
George Washington Yost try to tell him to put frequently used
keys far apart, but instead he arranges them close together
to allow faster typing. Yost and Densmore buy the patent and
convince Remington Fire Arms to produce this typewriter. |
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DOUBLE-SIDED
PRINTING
William Bullock patents a method of printing both sides of a
page automatically, and Richard Hoe incorporates this method
for the New York Tribune, which installs this new press in its
pressroom. Other papers will soon follow. Bullock is accidentally
killed as he falls into one of his own printing presses. |
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JUST
TO MAKE THINGS MORE DIFFICULT
Typewriters are now made with the QWERTY keyboard we see today.
The original reason for this layout was so that frequently used
keys would be spread out, making typing slower-fast typists
could easily jam typewriters, causing no end of problems. But
what we want to know today is, how come they STILL make keyboards
like that? |
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WOULD
YOU LIKE A COPY OF THAT?
The mimeograph is invented by Thomas A. Edison. |
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TELEPHONE
INVENTED
Alexander Graham Bell invents a device we now can't live without-the
telephone. While in his laboratory on March 10th, testing the
experimental telephone, Alexander Graham Bell accidentally spills
acid on himself. Unwittingly, he calls out to his assistant
"Mr. Watson, Come Here. I want you", and Watson, on the other
end of the instrument, hears him quite clearly. |
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PHONOGRAPH
Thomas Alva Edison develops a "speaking machine" otherwise known
as the phonograph. Sounds are recorded on grooves made in tinfoil
wrapped around metal cylinders. The hand-cranked machine, inspired
by the telephone, is demonstrated on November 29th with a shouted
recording of "Mary Had a Little Lamb". He applies for a patent
in December. |
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TELEPHONES
IN ACTUAL USE
The first Bell telephone is sold in May, and 777 more are sold
by August. |
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ON
SECOND THOUGHT, NEVER MIND
The widespread use of the telegraph renders the pony express
obselete. |
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FAX?
An Italian named Caselli sends a drawing by wire. |
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OVERSEAS
CALLING
Europe and the USA can now communicate instantly, thanks to
Atlantic cable. |
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HOWEVER
DID THEY SURVIVE WITHOUT IT?
Wall Street witnesses the birth of the stock ticker. |
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TRUE
TO LIFE
The first colour photographs are taken. |
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REMINGTON
REVOLUTION
Philo Remington, showing a great deal of foresight, bought the
sole rights to the Sholes typewriter for $12 000. Of course,
it doesn't seem like such a good idea at the time: the typewriters,
costing $125, is worth more than a month's rent for many business
firms, and this cost leads Remington to produce a mere eight
typewriters this year. |
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TELEPHONE
POTENTIAL
Alexander Graham Bell recognizes the possibilities of the electric
telephone. On June 2nd, carrying the sound of a plucked spring
along 60 feet of wire, Bell realizes the significance of the
carried sound, and concludes that a speaking telephone should
be relatively easy to produce. |
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FIRST
SUBSTANTIAL TELEPHONE CONVERSATION
Promoting the telephone, Bell's soon-to-be father-in-law, Gardiner
Hubbard, speaks with assistant Thomas Watson for over three
hours on the telephone between Boston and Cambridge's Observatory
on a borrowed telegraph line. |
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BELL
PHONE COMPANY
Gardiner Hubbard found sthe Bell Telephone Association, giving
himself and his son-in-law, Alexander Graham Bell, 30% interest
in the Bell Patent. Thomas Watson receives a 10% interest and
investor Thomas Sanders receives 30% interest for investing
over $100 000 in early experiments. |
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WASHINGTON
POST
The Washington Post begins publication on December 6th. Costing
3 cents, the four-page paper is sold to a subscription of
11 875 in the first year.
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