By Tim Lambert
c 3,200 BC Writing is invented in Iraq
c 1,600 BC The alphabet is invented in Lebanon and Israel
c 200 BC Paper is invented in China
c 1445 AD Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press
1476 William Caxton introduces the printing press into England
1512 Henry VIII created the Royal Mail
1635 King Charles I allows private citizens to send messages by Royal Mail for a fee
1665 The first real English newspaper is printed
1690 The first American newspaper is printed
1702 The first successful daily newspaper in England is published
1752 The first Canadian newspaper is published
1783 The first daily american newspaper is published
1785 The Daily Universal Register is printed. In 1788 it is renamed The Times.
1791 The Observer is founded
1803 The first Australian newspaper the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser is printed
1806 Carbon paper is invented by Ralph Wedgwood
1821 The Manchester Guardian is founded. In 1859 it is renamed The Guardian.
1837 The telegraph is invented. Isaac Pitman invents shorthand.
1840 Rowland Hill invents the Penny Post
1853 Post boxes are introduced in Britain
1855 In Britain stamp duty on newspapers is removed making them much cheaper
1858 In the USA Albert Potts patents a mailbox designed to fit lamposts
1874 The first successful typewriter goes on sale
1876 Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone
1880 The New York Graphic is the first newspaper to print a photo
1887 Paris and Brussels are linked by telephone
1888 The Financial Times is first printed
1891 Paris and London are linked by telephone
1901 Marconi sends a radio message across the Atlantic
1891 The Daily Graphic is the first newspaper in Britain to print a photo
1900 The Daily Express is first published
1903 The Daily Mirror is first published
1922 The BBC begins radio broadcasting
1925 Television is invented
1927 The first transatlantic telephone line opens
1930 A telephone link is established between Britain and Australia
1936 The BBC begins broadcasting high definition television
1958 Liquid paper is patented by Bette Nesmith Graham
1960 Echo, the first communications satellite is launched
1964 The Daily Herald becomes the Sun
1969 The laser printer is invented by Gary Starkweather
1973 Martin Cooper invents the first handheld cell phone
1978 The Daily Star is first published
1982 Satellite television begins in Britain
1985 The first mobile telephone in Britain is made
1986 The Independent is first published
1999 A free newspaper called Metro is published
2010 i, an abbreviated version of The Independent is first published
