This is the handout from a talk I gave a few times. Knowing history of items as well as civilizations can help open our minds to what life was like for an ancestor and allow us to think about their life more the way they might have.
| Contraption | Invented / Popularized | Impact on Genealogy |
| Smoke Signals | ||
| Cave Paintings | ||
| Papyrus | 4000 BC | Led to paper |
| Ink | 2500 BC | |
| Sailing Ships | 1000 | People could travel more |
| Printing Press | 1450 | Documents & Books are printed; multiple copies can be made quickly |
| Trains | 1804 | People could travel more; farther; quicker |
| Steamships | 1830’s | People could travel more; farther; quicker; safer |
| Camera | 1839 | Photographs |
| Fax Machine | 1843 | Quicker communications |
| Telegram | 1845 | Quicker communications |
| Typewriter | 1868 | Standardized typeset; New Technology |
| Telephone | 1876 | Quicker communications; New Technology |
| Electricity | 1879 | Easier to do things at night; schedule changes |
| Unions | 1880 | Shorter work day; more social time |
| Mimeograph Machines | 1884 | Broader communications |
| Automobile | 1886 | People could travel more; farther; quicker |
| Ball Point Pen | 1888 | Neater handwritten pages |
| File Cabinet | 1890’s | Changes how things are organized |
| Point and Shoot Camera | 1900 | Photographs for the masses |
| Airplane | 1903 | People could travel more; farther; quicker |
| Radio | 1920’s | Quicker communications |
| Computer | 1930’s | Shift from farming to offices |
| Television | 1940’s | Quicker communications; New Technology |
| Interstate Highway System | 1950’s | People could travel more; farther; quicker |
| Transistor Radio | 1954 | Quicker communications; New Technology |
| Scanners | 1963 | Digitization of documents |
| Personal Computer | 1977 | Quicker communications; New Technology |
| The Internet | 1989 | Quicker communications; New Technology |
