It’s obvious that transportation methods have come a long way. Many modes of transport have evolved and many more have gone extinct. The modes of our transportation have developed alongside the expansion of our human understanding and culture. Our greatest demands and challenges have, in turn, initiated our greatest inventive feats that have taken us from where we have come to where we intend to go. Transportation technology has been the key to our most powerful sociological and technological growth. And as it has done so in the distant past, it will continue to do so into the distant future. During the stone age of antiquity, we walked and ran upon the solid earth and swam and floated in dugout canoes upon the seas.
In 8,000 BC, the Canoe was invented and people used this as a means of transportation on water. In 6,000 BC men skied from point A to point B which is quite interesting because skiing today is just a sporting or recreational activity but centuries ago, it was a vital and essential means of transportation.
Whether first developed as an 'invention' in one place, or re-invented in several, wheels seem to have evolved as a natural solution to the problem of transport in areas where both oxen and wood are available. By 2000 BC heavy wheeled transport was in use in a region stretching from northern Europe to western Persia and Mesopotamia. Following the invention of the wheel was the wheeled cart in 3,500 BC. Now, this means of transportation was used not only to transport man but his goods as well. This became very useful and essential to farmers because they could put their farm produce on the cart which was way better than when they used to carry their produce or harvest on their back or shoulders (imagine carrying pounds of corn or yam or plantain of your shoulders or back for hundreds of miles).
In 1500 BC, the Galley was invented which was of greater advantage than the canoe that could only accommodate one passenger. The galley was a low, flat ship with one or more sails and up to three banks of oars, primarily used for warfare, trade, and piracy. The galley originated among the seafaring civilizations around the Mediterranean Sea in the early first millennium BC and remained in use in various forms until the early 19th century in warfare, trade and piracy. Galleys were the warships used by the early Mediterranean naval powers, including the Greeks, Phoenicians and Romans. They remained the dominant types of vessels used for war and piracy in the Mediterranean Sea until the last decades of the 16th century.
In 600 BC, the Carriage (similar to the wheeled cart) was made. The difference between the wheeled cart and the carriage is that the carriage was more sophisticated than the wheel cart and it also had a covering, whereas the wheeled cart had none. The cart was more for labor work because it could only take one man and his goods the carriage could take about 2 or 4 passengers.
In 200 AD, Junk ships were used as a means of transportation. Junks were efficient and sturdy ships that sailed long distances as early as the 2nd century CE. A junk is an ancient Chinese sailing ship design that is still in use today. They were used throughout Asia for extensive ocean voyages. They were found, and in lesser numbers are still found, throughout South-East Asia and India, but primarily in China.
After the Junk Ship came the Wheel Barrow. A wheelbarrow is a small hand-propelled vehicle, usually with just one wheel, designed to be pushed and guided by a single person using two handles at the rear, or by a sail to push the ancient wheelbarrow by wind. The term "wheelbarrow" is made of two words: "wheel" and "barrow." "Barrow" is a derivation of the Old English "bearwe" which was a device used for carrying loads. The earliest wheelbarrows with archaeological evidence in the form of a one-wheel cart come from 2nd century Han Dynasty in China.
In the 15th century, the Carrack, a three or four masted sailing ship developed in the 15th century by the Genoese for use in commerce became a method of transportation. They were widely used by Europe's 15th-century maritime powers, from the Mediterranean to northwest Europe, although each region had models of slightly different design. The Portuguese and the Spanish used them for oceanic travel and to explore the world.
After the Carrack came the Funicular in the 16th century. Also known as an inclined plane or cliff railway, the funicular is a cable railway in which a cable attached to a pair of tram-like vehicles on rails moves them up and down a steep slope, the ascending and descending vehicles counterbalancing each other. Funiculars of one sort or another have existed for hundreds of years and continue to be used for moving both passengers and goods. In the United States, the first funicular to use a two-rail layout was the Telegraph Hill Railroad in San Francisco, which was in operation from 1884 until 1886. The Mount Lowe Railway in Altadena, California, was the first mountain railway in the United States to use the three-rail layout.
The 16th century also welcomed another means of transportation which is the Stage Coach. A stagecoach is a type of covered wagon used to carry passengers and goods inside.
The year 1783 witnessed the invention and first use of the hot air balloon. After that came the steam boat in 1785 which was followed by the steam locomotive in 1804.
The wheels came back in the 19th century but in a different form. In 1808, the Dandy Horse was invented. The dandy horse is a human-powered vehicle that, being the first means of transport to make use of the two-wheeler principle, is regarded as the archetype of the bicycle. The dandy horse was invented by Baron Karl Drais in Mannheim, Germany, and patented in France in February 1818. The dandy-horse was a two-wheeled vehicle, with both wheels in-line, propelled by the rider pushing along the ground with the feet as in regular walking or running. The front wheel and handlebar assembly was hinged to allow steering.
Up until the invention of the hot air ballon, man had only been able to move either by road or by water. With the hot air ballon, certain distances could be covered by air but the distance was still relatively short. In 1852, another type of air transportation was launched.
The subway which is still in use even till date came about in 1863. That explains why some tunnels and subways look so very old (there were occasions where I would be on a subway and I would look around and wonder how in the world they were constructed because it was obvious they were not constructed recently. I used to think of the amount of labor and man power that must have been use to construct these subways. Another edition of the wheels came in 1870, the Penny Farthing (what an interesting name). In 1882, the first appearance of the electric trolley emerged. From wheel cart to barrow, then to dandy horse and penny farthing, the wheels have long since been a reliable means of transportation for man. And eventually in 1885, the motor cycle was invented which is still in use till today.
It is interesting to also note that the use for carriages may have been reduced to rides around Central Park, but funiculars, cable railways along steep slopes that date back to the 16th century, can still be found in use around the world.
As the world began to change and the technical and mechanical skills of people began to evolve and expand, man began to wonder if there were other methods of transportation that could be invented. This tells me that man has always been a searching being, always searching for new things or a way to make things better. Either to improve on something that already existed or creates something totally new.
As a result of this deeply ingrained desire to try or create new things, the gas car was invented in 1886. I guess after exhausting all the other methods of transportation, an idea came for what will be widely and most commonly used all over the world today.
As man was trying to improve transportation on land, he was also searching for how to do the same thing in the air, hence the invention of the Glider in 1891.
The Diesel Truck came in 1892. After that came the Airplane in 1903, then the Race Car showed up in 1930s. The Helicopter came into the scene in 1939 followed by the Jetliner in 1952. Monster Truck came in the 1950s and after that came the Hovercraft in 1959.
Throughout history, we can see that for every journey and distance, man had been able to create or invent a more suitable method of transportation. In the beginning, things were a lot slower and it took an incredible amount of time to move from point A to point B. However, because man was not created to be static, he kept seeking out ways to move faster and better with less energy and one after the other he invented different machinery to see which one works best for the road, water and sea. So far so go, the journey up until now has been very interesting and exciting. But I am curious to know what man will invent going forward from here on. Every limitation has given man the opportunity to create, invent and develop something that will stretch his mind and capacbility, something that the world has never seen or experienced before.
What limitations are we going to face tomorrow? Whatever it is, I believe that just the same way man found a way oto break the limitations of the past, tomorrow’s limitation will yet again meet another invention by man that will break it.
References
http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ab79
Here to There- A brief history of transportation by Kasia Cieplak-Mayr Von Baldegg
Here to There- A brief history of transportation by Kasia Cieplak-Mayr Von Baldegg
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