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 Chronomedia index
Numbers after entries link to the list of references. |
links and notes |
| 3500 BC |
Sumerians make clay tablet records of pictograms. |
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| 3200 BC |
Ritualistic religious drama is performed in Egypt. |
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| 2200 BC approx |
Earliest existing writing on papyrus. |
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| 1500 BC approx |
Phoenicians develop an alphabet. |
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| 1270 BC approx |
An encyclopaedia is compiled by a Syrian scholar. |
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| 775 BC approx |
A Greek phonetic alphabet is developed, written from left to right. |
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| 500 BC approx |
A pony express mail service exists in Persia.
Greeks use smoke signals, mirrors, beacon fires,trumpets and shouting to relay messages.
Greek drama begins to flourish.
Chinese calligraphers use reeds dipped into pigments to write on bamboo. |
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| 400 BC approx |
Chinese write on silk sheets. |
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| 330 BC |
The first public library opens in Athens. |
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| 270-260 BC approx |
Euclid defines the 'golden section': a visually pleasing ratio of the sides of rectangle. It is
the basis of the 'A' paper sizes and has a ratio of 1.618:1 (or 1:0.618). |
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| 200 BC approx |
Books are made out of vellum and parchment. |
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| 105 AD/CE |
Paper made of pulped rags in a frame is invented in China by Tsai Lun, the Minister of
Agriculture. |
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| 140 approx |
Ptolemy describes the persistence of vision phenomenon, the optical basis of all moving
picture illusions. |
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| 350 approx |
In Egypt a book of psalms is written on parchment and bound in wood covers. |
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| 375 |
In India, Sanskrit drama reaches its apogee with Sakuntalā by Kālidāsa. |
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| 600 approx |
Book printing begins in China. |
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| 700 approx |
Printing begins in Korea. |
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| 751 or 768 |
Paper-making technique is taught to Arabs by Chinese prisoners of war captured at Samarkand. |
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| 765 |
Picture book printing is known in Japan. |
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| 794 |
Paper-mills are established at Baghdad, owned by the state. |
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| 842 |
Serment de Strasbourg. |
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| 868 |
Hand printing known in India. |
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| 978-984 |
Compilation of a 1,000-volume Chinese encyclopaedia. |
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