Modern
Humans
The last 40,000 years
Humans are found everywhere
Modern humans dominate the surface of the planet-there are more than
6 billion of us, and we can live anywhere. The major difference between
us and earlier human species is not so much the way we look, but the
way we live: our technologies, economies, and innovations.
We view the world differently
The culture of modern humans includes history, myths, science fiction,
television, and virtual reality. We symbolize our membership in peer
groups by our dress, behavior, speech, music, and technology. We live
in a world of ethnic, cultural, and technological diversity, even
though the DNA we share with one another is 99.9% identical
1,300,000
BCE Hand Axes
380,000 BCE Brushwood Shelters
250,000 BCE Red Ochre Paint
12,000 BCE First Pottery
6-5,000 BCE Fishing with Harpoons
4,000 BCE Glass
4,000 BCE Simple Plow
3,500-3.001 BCE Potter's Wheel
3,000-2,501 BCE Cheops Pyramid
1,700 BCE Horse-drawn Chariot
1,400-1,200 BCE Woven Wool
1,000-800 BCE Papyrus Manufacture
221-210 BCE Great Wall of China
200 BCE Use of Gears
193 BCE Invention of Concrete
200 - 300 Wheelbarrows
200 - 300 Armored Cavalry
400 - 500 Iron Nails
800 - 850 Gunpowder
1290 Eye Glasses
1326 Cannons
1370 Steel Crossbow
1521 Manufacture of Silk
1530 Spinning Wheel
1592 Windmills
1608 Telescope
1775 Steam Engine
1793 Cotton Gin
1807 Paddle Steamer
1816 Stethoscope
1832 Friction Matches
1834 McCormick Reaper
1839 Camera
1851 Sewing Machine
1857 Elevator
1859 Steamroller
1862 Solar Energy
1875 Submarine
1876 Telephone
1877
Phonograph
1880 Electric Lights
1893 Automobile
1893 Zipper
1895 Radio Telegraph
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1903
Powered Plane
1907 Radio
1914 Panama Canal Opens
1923 Television
1926 Liquid Fuel Rocket
1937 Golden Gate Bridge Opens
1937 Jet Engine
1938 Teflon
1939 Helicopter
1942 Computer (UNIX)
1943 Aqualung
1945 Microwave Oven
1947 Cell Phone
1947 Transistor
1955 Atomic Power
1955 Fiber Optics
1955 Video Tape Recording
1956 Artificial Intelligence
1957 Sputnik I & II
1959 Office Copier
1960 Aluminum Cans
1961 Electric Typewriters
1961 Communications Satellite
1966 FAX Machine
1967 Hand Held Calculator
1968 Virtual Reality
1969 Video Recorder
1969 Internet
1970 Floppy Disk
1971 Computer Microchip
1972 Compact Disc
1973 Mountain Bikes
1974 MRI (patented)
1976 Personal Computer
1978 GPS
1981 MS-DOS
1981 Columbia, the First Space Shuttle
1985 CD-ROM
1986 MIR Space Station
1992 World Wide Web
1993 Pentium Chip
1994 Channel Tunnel
2001 Battery Powered Mechanical Heart |
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