Means of communication

The 21st of November

Nowadays we take our modern means of communication „ for granted, but we shouldn't forget older methods. Who knows? One day we may need them again!

The history of communication started long before people invented the alphabet. When people couldn't read or write, they drew pictures on the walls. These pictures told the stories of their everyday life, battles and culture.

Can you imagine your life without post offices? Difficult, isn't it. But before they were invented, people still wrote letters.

In the ancient world there were thousands of foot messengers who formed an ancient communication network. One of the most famous messengers in history was a Greek soldier. He ran to Athens to bring the news, of the Greek victory over the Persians at the battle of Marathon in 490 ВС.

When he got to Athens and gave the news, he fell dead of exhaustion. He had covered a distance of 26 miles. In honour of this soldier, sportsmen nowadays run the same distance — a marathon.

In the Middle Ages life was hard and dangerous. It was very important to have good neighbours and to get news quickly. So people used the high towers of their castles to send and receive messages about the enemies. American Indians didn't build high towers but used smoke signals to send important information.

When Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876, everybody thought that it was a real miracle. The telephone and the telegraph were the fastest means of communication that people could imagine. In the 19th century people used to say, "We have invented everything we could." But as we know today it was just the beginning.

Questions for the text:

What did people do when they didn't have the alphabet?

What did people do when they didn't have post offices?

What did people do when they didn't have the telephone and the telegraph?

Answer: true, false or no information. People couldn't communicate before they invented

the alphabet. In the ancient world people also had big, fast

communication networks. Marathon is the name of a place in ancient Greece. In medieval times people used the telegraph. The American Indians used smoke signals because

they couldn't read or write. People invented the post in the 19th century. Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. In the 19th century people used Morse code for the

telegraph.

Quiz: 1. Who invented paper?

a) the Chinese

b) the Japanese

c) the English

Paper came from China, in the 2d century BC. The oldest piece of paper in the world is made from hemp.

2. Who invented the alphabet?a) the Jews

b) the Greeks

c) the Egyptians

The first alphabet appeared in 1900 BC. It came from Egypt and other cultures copied it.

3. Who invented ink?a) the Egyptians and the Chinese

b) the Chinese

c) the Arabs

People invented ink before 2500 BC. Some books say it was the Chinese, but probably the Egyptians invented it at the same time. It was a mixture of soot from pine smoke and lamp oil mixed with gelatine from donkey skin.

4. Who first sent private letters from one person to another?

a) the Greeks

b) the Egyptians

c) the Romans

Messages on wax-coated tablets were the 1st private letters. Their inventor, a Greek scholar, wrote letters like this and sent them to his friends by foot messengers.

5. Who invented the stamp?

a) the English

b) the Russians

c) the Americans

In 1837 Sir Rowland Hill invented the 1st official stamp in the world and became “the father of modern post office”.

6. Who invented the telephone?

a) Telephone

b) Popov

c) Alexander Graham Bell

The first real telephone call was on March 6, 1876, when Bell, in one room, called to his assistant in another room. Nowadays the Bell Telephone Company is the largest telephone company in the world.

7. Who invented the telegraph?a) Alexander Graham Bell

b) Samuel Morse

c) Mary Telegraph

The word “telegraph” comes from Greek and means “to write far”. In 1835 a professor of arts and design at New York University, Samuel Morse, developed telegraph wires and also invented Morse code.

8. Who invented the e-mail?

a) the Americans

b) the Russians

c) the Germans

Nobody tried to invent the e-mail. It simply happened in 1969 with help of Ray Tomlinson, an American programmer.

Task for groups:

Draw and tell about a means of communication which is new and interesting for you. Why?