Media Timeline

  • Jan 1, 1440

    Printing Press

    Printing Press
  • First American Newspaper

    First American Newspaper
    Printed by Richard Pierce and edited by Benjamin Harris in Boston
  • Phonograph Invented

    Phonograph Invented
    Invented by Thomas Edison, cylinder was originally made with wax, only lasted 3-4 plays
  • Billboard Magazine Invented

    Billboard Magazine Invented
    Billboard began as a trade paper for the bill posting industry - began to cover radio in the 1920's
  • First Radio Signal

    First Radio Signal
    Guglielmo Marconi sent the first radio signal
  • ASCAP

    ASCAP
    First performing rights organization - American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (SESAC - 1930, BMI - 1939)
  • First PC

    First PC
    IBM publicly introduced the 701
  • First US analog mobile phone call

    First US analog mobile phone call
    Dr. Martin Cooper of Motorola - "The brick" weighed 2 pounds, offered just a half-hour of talk time for every recharging and sold for $3995.
  • MTV's first day

    MTV's first day
    Video Killed the Radio Star by The Buggles was the first video shown
  • Napster

    Napster
    Peer-to-peer file sharing - Shawn Fanning, John Fanning, and Sean Parker.