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After being introduced during World War I, radios became a very known feature in many homes in the 1920s. Over the course of the decade, hundreds of radio stations began taking the world by storm. These stations created and broadcasted news, serial stories, and political speeches. -
In the 1920s, two very large and popular media networks including the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) and the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) were launched. The NBC started broadcasting on November 15, 1926, and the CBS started broadcasting on September 18, 1927. Both of these media networks soon began to dominate the airwaves. -
The first transatlantic phone call was made between the President of America's ATT company, Walter S. Gifford, and the head of the British General Post Office, Sir Evelyn P. Murray. This call was transmitted by radio waves, and had began from a test call on January 7, 1927. The unscripted and recorded call, included this quote: "Distance doesn't mean anything anymore. We are on the verge of a very high-speed world..." -
The first movie with sound was created on October 6, 1927. The Jazz Singer, released by The Warner Bros was first feature-length film to produce synchronized sound for sequences of dialogue. This was significant as it remarked the first time hearing the voices of the film's stars, which was a revelation for audiences. This helped with the success in the sound and TV revolution. -
The success of the sound industry played an essential role in the evolution of cinemas, and gave rise to the 'Golden Age of Hollywood'. During the 1930s, cinema was the main form of popular entertainment, with many individuals often attending cinemas twice a week. -
In the 1930s, big bands and swing music were popular, with Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, and Glenn Miller being popular bandleaders. During this time, the newly popularized radio introduced citizens to more types of music than they had ever heard before. Radio still continued to do such during the Great Depression (1929–41) when it caused declines in phonograph-record sales. -
The walkie-talkie being one of the first two-way radios ever was first invented in 1937 by a Canadian named Don Hings, with many similar devices being invented by other inventors at the same time. Walkie-talkies were invented at this specific time to give soldiers a way to communicate on the battlefield. -
During the 1940s, many publishers began to go after teenagers, a previously ignored demographic. In 1944, The Seventeen magazine was put on the shelves which prepared the stage for later publications such as Tiger Beat and Teen People. These magazines were targeted towards young women, offering stories on fashion, makeup, celebrity news, and lifestyles. -
By the middle of the 1940s, three-quarters of the records created in America had gone into jukeboxes. The post-war years marked a great rise in popularity for the jukebox. The jukebox was a machine that anyone could drop a coin into and it would play their favorite songs. -
ENIAC was the first programmable, electronic, general-purpose digital computer, completed on December 10, 1945. Other computers had some of these features, but ENIAC was the first to have them all. This computer was able to solve "a large class of numerical problems" through reprogramming. It is was remarkable at the time for being over 1,000 times faster than any previous computer. -
During the 1950s, technological innovations created a rapid improvement of mass communication all around the world. By the end of the decade, television had overpowered radio, newspapers, and magazines as the primary source of entertainment and information. -
The first RCA colour TV set, the CT-100, was produced in early 1954. It had a 12-inch screen and costed $1,000. With the factor of inflation, $1,000 today would be around $12,545. -
The first generation game consoles were invented during the late 1960s when Ralph Baer, a television engineer had the idea of interactive television, with a code name of “The Brown Box.” After its release, the video game console gained popularity and created a new age of technology as many individuals began purchasing their first television sets -
On November 18, 1963, the first electronic push-button telephone with touch-tone dialing was commercially proposed by Bell Telephone to customers only in Pennsylvania. A push-button telephone eliminated the need for a rotary phone. -
The development of the mouse began in the early 1960s by SRI International's Douglas Engelbart, while he was analyzing the interactions between humans and computers. Soon after, Bill English, the chief engineer at SRI, constructed the first computer mouse prototype in 1964. -
In 1975, Steve Sasson who is a Kodak engineer, invented the digital camera. This ancient camera was the size of a toaster. -
In 1976, the first ever commercial laser printer was released by IBM. The laser printer was created for data centres, and replaced line printers. The laser printer was capable of high volume printing, offering speeds of 215 ppm. -
Two college dropouts named Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founded Apple Computer, Inc on April 1, 1976. They both aspired to change the way people viewed computers, and soon after they invented the Apple Computer 1, which is apple's first ever invention. -
The Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news channel, and their first broadcast aired June 1, 1980. The CNN became the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and covers topics such as wars, natural disasters, politics and pop culture. -
January 1, 1983, is considered the day the Internet was born. Before its creation, many computer networks did not have a common way to communicate with one another. A new communications protocol was established called the Internetwork Protocol. -
The very first version of the smartphone was invented in 1992 by IBM. The smartphone was called the Simon Personal Communicator, and it first became available for purchase in 1994. The smartphone created lots of demand as it was purchased by many people. -
On April 30, 1993, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, a British computer scientist at CERN, invented the World Wide Web (WWW). This creation played a big role in the evolution of digital communication and information sharing. The WWW is known as one of the easiest ways to access information. -
The DVD was first invented and developed in 1995, and was first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The DVD can store any kind of digital data, and is used to store video programs, software, and other computer files. -
On October 23, 2001, the original iPod was introduced. The iPod was the first MP3 player to pack a remarkable amount of 1,000 songs and a 10-hour battery into a small package. -
On February 4, 2004, Mark Zuckerberg produced a brand new app called "TheFacebook". Marks goal was to create a website that could connect people around the world. Facebook is still immensely popular, and has 3.07 billion monthly active users worldwide. -
On June 29, 2007, the world was amazed by the release of the model 1 iPhone created by Apple. The model 1 iPhone was invented by Steve Jobs, and was the first ever iPhone model and smartphone that was developed and marketed by Apple Inc. -
The first-generation iPad was released on January 27, 2010. The iPad product line has been improving ever since, releasing new models such as the iPad Mini, the iPad Air, and the iPad Pro. -
On April 24, 2015, Apple released a brand new creation called the Apple Watch. The watch quickly became the world's best-selling wearable device, and was originally created as a fashion accessory. Soon after, the company decided to switch styles, changing its focus for the watch to have fitness-oriented features. -
The company Tesla, Inc developed a mind-blowing prototype for the Tesla Bot in 2022. The Tesla Bot is a general-purpose robotic humanoid, and was announced at the company's Artificial Intelligence (AI) Day event on August 19, 2021. The Tesla Bot is now expected to go on sale in 2026 -
ChatGPT was launched on November 30, 2022, and is an artificial intelligence chatbot created by OpenAI. ChatGPT is known for being able to create humanlike conversational dialogue, and respond to questions. The artificial intelligence is able to write various written content, including articles, social media posts, essays, code, and emails.
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