The alphabet spreads across the Mediterranean
Phoenician traders simplified writing into a small set of consonant signs; Greeks later added vowels, producing the ancestor of most scripts used today.
Humanity
115 events across three thousand years — chosen to be multi-regional and honest about uncertainty. Follow a thread to trace one capability through time, or filter by region and kind.
Showing 4 of 115 events. Clear filters
Spatial timeline — scroll horizontally
Papermaking crosses into the Islamic world
After the Battle of Talas, papermaking — traditionally via captured Chinese craftsmen, more likely by gradual diffusion — reached Samarkand, then Baghdad, where mills soon supplied an empire's bureaucracy.
Gutenberg's movable-type press
Combining metal movable type, oil-based ink and a screw press, Gutenberg printed the 42-line Bible; within decades presses spread across Europe.
The World Wide Web opens to everyone
Tim Berners-Lee's CERN project — URLs, HTTP, HTML — was released royalty-free; by 1993 Mosaic made it visual, and the web took over the internet.
Chronology
The alphabet spreads across the Mediterranean
Phoenician traders simplified writing into a small set of consonant signs; Greeks later added vowels, producing the ancestor of most scripts used today.
Papermaking crosses into the Islamic world
After the Battle of Talas, papermaking — traditionally via captured Chinese craftsmen, more likely by gradual diffusion — reached Samarkand, then Baghdad, where mills soon supplied an empire's bureaucracy.
Gutenberg's movable-type press
Combining metal movable type, oil-based ink and a screw press, Gutenberg printed the 42-line Bible; within decades presses spread across Europe.
The World Wide Web opens to everyone
Tim Berners-Lee's CERN project — URLs, HTTP, HTML — was released royalty-free; by 1993 Mosaic made it visual, and the web took over the internet.