3400 BCE
Sumerian cuneiform
Sumer develops cuneiform on clay tablets — among the first writing systems, born for accounting. Source — Wikipedia:
Chronological Storyline (11 Milestones)
3200 BCE
Egyptian hieroglyphs
Egypt’s hieroglyphic script combines logographic and phonetic signs for monumental and sacred texts. Source — Wikipedia:
1250 BCE
Chinese oracle-bone script
Shang-dynasty diviners inscribe the earliest Chinese characters, ancestor of today’s script. Source — Wikipedia:
1050 BCE
Phoenician alphabet
The Phoenicians create a compact consonantal alphabet that seeds Greek, Latin and many others. Source — Wikipedia:
800 BCE
Greek vowel alphabet
Greeks add vowels to the Phoenician script, producing the first full alphabet. Source — Wikipedia:
250 BCE
Indian Brahmi script
Brahmi, ancestor of most South and Southeast Asian scripts, spreads with Ashoka’s edicts. Source — Wikipedia:
105 CE
Cai Lun standardises paper
Chinese official Cai Lun refines papermaking, giving the world a cheap, portable writing surface. Source — Wikipedia:
1040 CE
Bi Sheng’s movable type
Bi Sheng invents ceramic movable type in Song China, four centuries before Gutenberg. Source — Wikipedia:
1377 CE
Korean metal movable type (Jikji)
Korea prints the Jikji with metal movable type, the oldest surviving book so produced. Source — Wikipedia:
1443 CE
Hangul phonetic alphabet
King Sejong promulgates Hangul, a scientifically designed alphabet to make Korean literacy easy. Source — Wikipedia:
1455 CE
Gutenberg’s printing press
Johannes Gutenberg’s movable-type press prints the 42-line Bible, igniting Europe’s print revolution. Source — Wikipedia: