From Cave Paintings to the Internet A Chronological and Thematic Database on the History of Information and Media Education / Reading / Literacy Outline

The Advantages of Orally Transmitted Traditions
(Circa 30,000 BCE)

The Earliest Autograph Signatures
(Circa 3,100 BCE)

Education in the Bronze Age in the Middle East
(Circa 3,000 BCE – 1,200 BCE)

The Abu Salbikh Tablet Lost in the Iraq War
(Circa 2,500 BCE)

One of the Oldest Records of the Greek Alphabet
(Circa 740 BCE)

One of the Oldest Known Examples of Writing in Greek
(Circa 740 BCE – 720 BCE)

"The Founding Document of Mathematics"
(323 BCE – 283 BCE)

The Royal Library of Alexandria: The Largest Collection of Recorded Information in the Ancient World
(Circa 300 BCE)

Humorous Inscriptions on Lead Sling-Bolts (Sling Bullets; Slingshot) Reflect War of Words
(41 BCE)

Roman Portraits Celebrating Literacy
(Circa 75 CE)

Over 11,000 Wall Inscriptions Survived from Pompeii
(79 CE)

At the Beginning of the Dark Ages Production of New Manuscripts Essentially Ceased
(Circa 400 CE – 600)

The Withdrawal of Roman Legions from Britannia Results in the End of Literacy in the Region
(410 CE)

The Church Assumes Role of Educator and Civil Service for the Tribal Kingdoms
(Circa 450 CE – 650)

The Code of Justinian
(529 – 533)

The Scriptorium and Library at the Vivarium
(Circa 560)

From the Monastery on the Small Island of Iona, the Conversion of Pagan Scotland and Much of Northern England
(Circa 563)

Augustine of Canterbury Preaches to the Anglo-Saxons
(597)

The Springmount Bog Wax Tablets
(Circa 600)

Foundation of the Monastery on Lindisfarne
(634)

The Earliest Surviving Letter Known to Have Been Written from One Englishman to Another
(704 – 705)

Most of the Surviving Greek Literature was Translated into Arabic by 750
(750)

Evidence of the Decline of Literacy Among the Laity in the Early Middle Ages
(Circa 750)

The Finest Library North of the Alps
(767)

The Carolingian Revival
(779 – 814)

The Educator Alcuin and the Emperor Charlemagne
(780 – 796)

264 Manuscript Books or Fragments Survive of Texts Written before 800
(799)

The Earliest Surviving Dated Manuscript Written in Greek Minuscule
(815 – 835)

Over 400,000 Manuscript Volumes at Cordoba
(Circa 961)

Origins of the University of Oxford
(1096)

Origins of the University of Paris
(Circa 1110)

Among the Best Known Records of Early Forbidden Romantic Love
(1115)

Henry II Forbids English Students to Study at Paris
(1167)

Beginnings of an Active Book Trade Outside of Monasteries
(Circa 1200)

Knowledge of Greek and Greek Texts During the Middle Ages
(Circa 1200 – 1450)

Origins of Cambridge University
(1209)

The Pecia System
(April 4, 1228)

Formation of the University of Paris
(1257)

So Many Books were Thrown into the Tigris River that they Formed a Bridge that Would Support a Man on Horseback
(1258)

"The World's Oldest Continuously Functioning Library for University Academics and Students"
(1276)

A Venetian Ordinance on the Production of Eyeglasses
(April 2, 1300)

The Earliest Surviving Spectacles
(Circa 1350)

The Earliest Depiction of Eyeglasses in a Painted Work of Art
(1352)

Merton College Library Contains Approximately 500 Manuscripts
(1378)

Byzantine Greek Scholars Carry Manuscripts to Italy
(Circa June 1453)

The First Printing Press in France
(1470)

Probably the First Printed Law Book
(January 26, 1475)

The Most Famous Textbook Ever Published
(May 25, 1482)

The Transition from Latin to the Vernacular in the 16th Century
(Circa 1500 – 1600)

Henry VIII Restricts the Reading of the Bible
(May 12, 1543)

The First Treatise on Mathematics Published in the Western Hemisphere and the First Textbook on Any Subject Besides Religion Printed Outside of Europe
(1556)

Origins of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek
(1558)

The First Institution of Higher Learning in the U.S.
(1636)

Baroque Counterpoint
(1725)

The First English History of Paleography and Diplomatics
(1784)

Foundation of the Ecole nationale des chartes
(February 22, 1821)

The First Correspondence Course: Pitman Shorthand
(1837)

The First Distance Learning Program
(1858)

The American Historical Association
(1884)

Predictor of the Electronic Book
(1930)

The First "Talking-Books"
(1931)

National Educational Television
(1952)

Machines Can Learn from Past Errors
(July 1959)

The First Electronic Learning System
(1960)

Coining the Term "Computer Science"
(1961)

"The Medium is the Message"
(1964)

Programming Language for Education and Games
(1965 – 1969)

PBS
(1969)

One of the First Touchscreens
(1972)

First Print-to-Speech Reading Machine
(1976)

2,350,000 U.S. Students in Online Learning
(2004)

The Institute for the Future of the Book
(2004)

The Site of the Original Library of Alexandria
(May 12, 2004)

The Google Print Project
(October 2004)

The Million Dollar Homepage
(August 25, 2005)

College-Level Lectures Via Podcasts
(January 28, 2006)

Reborn Digital: The First Fully Digital University Press in the United States
(July 13, 2006)

MediaCommons: a digital scholarly network
(January 24, 2007)

Second Life is Used for Teaching Foreign Languages
(July 2007)

The First Healthcare Course Taught in Second Life
(September 2007)

Codex in Crisis
(November 5, 2007)

Game-Based Learning for Virtual Patients
(March 2008)

A Virtual Course on Teaching in Virtual Worlds
(August 4, 2008)

Untitled
(2009)

The First College Journalism Course Focused on Twitter
(September 1, 2009)

French Alternative to Google Books Formed
(December 17, 2009)

The Amazon Kindle is Hacked; eBook Digital Rights Management Cracked
(December 23, 2009)

"Assessing the Future Landscape of Scholarly Communication. . . "
(February 2010)

Modifiable eBook Editions of Textbooks
(February 22, 2010)

Probably the First Fully Visually Satisfying Interactive eBook
(April 5, 2010)

Social Networking Added to Reading Electronic Books
(June 12, 2010)

The First Traditional Humanities Journal to Try "Open" Peer Review
(July 26, 2010)