Mass Media

Printing Press

1440

The printing press was invented by Johannes Gutenberg and his invention of the moveable type is considered the most important invention in history.

Phonograph

1877

While other devices had been invented which could capture sound, Thomas Edison's phonograph was the first to reproduce the recorded sound. It went on to be used for music, letter writing, phonographic books, and much more.

Radio

1894

Guglielmo Marconi created the first commercially successful radio signaling system. As the invention grew in popularity, it was a way for the nation to come together and allowed people to communicate and interact in a whole new way.

Motion Pictures

1900

While motion pictures began being made in the 1890s, it wasn't until 1900 that films moved from being a novelty to a large-scale entertainment industry. Film-makers began to introduce basic editing techniques and film narrative.

Television

1955

Televisions first became popular with consumers after WWII, and by 1955 half of all American homes had a black and white TV set. No invention had ever entered American homes faster than the television, with the number TV sets rising from 6,000 to 12 million between 1946 and 1951.

Internet

1991

The World Wide Web became publicly available in 1991 after being created by Tim Berners-Lee. It's was originally cultivated to allow professionals to share information with each other even if they used different software or hardware.

Social Media

2003

MySpace, one of the first big social media platforms, was created in 2003, with Facebook following it in 2004. 2006 brought about new platforms such as Twitter, and as of 2017 there are 2.46 billion people worldwide on social media.