Stone to Silicon

Timeline · 106 technologies

Transport & space

c. 8,000 BCE to August 2026. Each one is placed by when it first worked.

Open the living tree

  1. c. 8,000 BCEDugout canoeA hollowed log becomes the first known boat, opening rivers and coasts to travel.
  2. c. 3,500 BCESailing shipsHarnessing wind lets boats travel without rowers, the first engine of long-distance trade.
  3. c. 3,500 BCEThe wheelA disk on an axle turns dragging into rolling and multiplies what an animal can haul.
  4. c. 3,000 BCEOx-drawn wagonSolid-wheeled carts pulled by oxen turn farms and towns into a connected economy.
  5. c. 2,200 BCEDomestic horse and ridingTamed horses give humans speed on land for the first time, reshaping war, trade and herding.
  6. c. 2,000 BCEChariotA light two-wheeled car behind horses becomes the fastest vehicle of the Bronze Age.
  7. c. 2,000 BCESpoked wheelReplacing solid disks with spokes makes wheels light enough for speed.
  8. c. 1,500 BCEOutrigger canoeA side float stabilizes a sailing canoe enough to cross open ocean.
  9. c. 700 BCETriremeThree banks of oars and a bronze ram create the ancient Mediterranean's fastest warship.
  10. 312 BCERoman roadsLayered, drained, stone-paved highways bind an empire of 400,000 km of routes.
  11. c. 100 CESternpost rudderA hinged rudder on the stern gives large ships precise steering.
  12. c. 200 CELateen sailA triangular fore-and-aft sail lets ships sail closer to the wind.
  13. c. 322 CEStirrupFoot supports give riders a stable seat, transforming mounted warfare.
  14. 609 CEGrand Canal of ChinaEmperor Yang links the Yellow and Yangtze rivers into the world's longest canal.
  15. 984 CEPound lockTwo gates and a chamber let boats climb hills along a canal.
  16. c. 1000Polynesian wayfindingNavigators read stars, swells and birds to find specks of land across thousands of km.
  17. c. 1040Magnetic compassA magnetized needle points north, letting sailors hold a course under cloud.
  18. c. 1232Gunpowder rocketGunpowder-propelled arrows become the first rockets, fired at the siege of Kaifeng.
  19. c. 1275Portolan chartCompass-bearing sea charts map coasts accurately enough to plot a voyage.
  20. c. 1400CarrackA big three-masted hull mixing square and lateen sails becomes the first true ocean ship.
  21. c. 1481Mariner's astrolabeA heavy brass ring lets sailors measure the Sun's height and find their latitude.
  22. 1522First circumnavigationThe Victoria returns to Spain after the first voyage around the world.
  23. 1595FluytA cheap, roomy Dutch cargo ship run by small crews powers a trading empire.
  24. 1757SextantA mirrored instrument measures star angles to a fraction of a degree from a moving deck.
  25. 1761Bridgewater CanalA canal cuts Manchester's coal price in half and starts Britain's canal mania.
  26. 1761Marine chronometerHarrison's sea clock keeps time well enough to solve longitude.
  27. 1783Hot air balloonThe Montgolfier balloon lifts the first humans into the sky over Paris.
  28. 1804Steam locomotiveTrevithick puts a high-pressure steam engine on rails and hauls 10 tonnes of iron.
  29. 1807SteamboatFulton's steamboat runs up the Hudson against the current on a regular schedule.
  30. 1817DraisineKarl Drais's two-wheeled running machine proves a rider can balance on inline wheels.
  31. 1820Macadam roadCompacted layers of small broken stone make cheap, durable all-weather roads.
  32. 1830Intercity railwayThe Liverpool and Manchester links two cities by steam alone and starts the railway age.
  33. 1839Screw propellerA spinning screw replaces paddle wheels and makes steam practical at sea.
  34. 1843Iron screw steamshipBrunel's SS Great Britain unites an iron hull and a propeller for ocean crossings.
  35. c. 1845Clipper shipSharp, narrow sailing ships set speed records in the last great age of sail.
  36. 1853Cayley's crewed gliderGeorge Cayley's glider carries a man across a Yorkshire valley using a fixed wing.
  37. 1863Underground railwayLondon's Metropolitan Railway runs trains beneath the streets.
  38. 1869Suez CanalA 164 km sea-level canal cuts the Europe-Asia sea route by about 7,000 km.
  39. 1869Transcontinental railroadA golden spike joins the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the US by rail.
  40. 1876Internal combustion engineOtto's four-stroke engine burns fuel inside the cylinder, compact power for any vehicle.
  41. 1885Safety bicycleChain drive and equal wheels create the modern bicycle and personal mobility for millions.
  42. 1886AutomobileBenz's Patent-Motorwagen is the first practical car built around a gasoline engine.
  43. 1888Electric streetcarSprague's electric trolleys in Richmond replace horses on city streets.
  44. 1888Pneumatic tireDunlop's air-filled tire smooths the ride and makes fast road vehicles bearable.
  45. 1891Lilienthal's glidersOtto Lilienthal makes about 2,000 controlled glider flights and publishes the data.
  46. 1897Diesel engineCompression ignition delivers the efficient, high-torque engine that moves world freight.
  47. 1899La Jamais ContenteA battery-electric car becomes the first road vehicle to exceed 100 km/h.
  48. 1900Rigid airshipCount Zeppelin's engine-driven rigid airship makes lighter-than-air flight steerable.
  49. 1903Powered flightThe Wright Flyer makes the first controlled, sustained powered airplane flight.
  50. 1903Rocket equationTsiolkovsky proves on paper that rockets can reach orbit, and how.
  51. 1908Ford Model TA durable, cheap car puts the world on wheels; 15 million are built.
  52. 1914Panama CanalLocks lift ships 26 m over the Isthmus of Panama, joining Atlantic and Pacific.
  53. 1926Liquid-fuel rocketGoddard launches the first liquid-fuel rocket from a Massachusetts farm.
  54. 1936Douglas DC-3The first airliner that made money carrying passengers alone.
  55. 1939Jet engineThe Heinkel He 178 flies on turbojet power, ending the propeller's speed limit.
  56. 1939Practical helicopterSikorsky's single main rotor and tail rotor layout makes vertical flight practical.
  57. 1944V-2 rocketThe first large guided ballistic missile and the first object to reach space.
  58. 1947Bell X-1 breaks sound barrierChuck Yeager flies a rocket plane past Mach 1 and proves supersonic flight is controllable.
  59. 1952Jet airlinerThe de Havilland Comet begins passenger jet service, halving journey times.
  60. 1955Nuclear submarineUSS Nautilus runs submerged for weeks on a reactor that needs no air.
  61. 1956ContainerizationMalcom McLean ships standard steel boxes, cutting cargo handling costs by over 90 percent.
  62. 1956Interstate Highway SystemA 66,000 km network of limited-access highways reorganizes the US around the car.
  63. 1957SputnikThe Soviet Union places the first artificial satellite in orbit and starts the space age.
  64. 1958Boeing 707The first commercially dominant jetliner makes intercontinental air travel routine.
  65. 1960Transit navigation satelliteThe first satellite navigation system fixes ship positions from orbit.
  66. 1961Gagarin orbits EarthYuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space on a 108-minute orbit.
  67. 1964Shinkansen high-speed railJapan's bullet train links Tokyo and Osaka at 210 km/h.
  68. c. 1965High-bypass turbofanPushing most air around the core makes jet engines quieter and far more efficient.
  69. 1967Saturn VThe most powerful rocket yet flown lifts 140 tonnes to low orbit.
  70. 1968ISO standard containerStandard container sizes let any box travel on any ship, train or truck worldwide.
  71. 1969Apollo 11 Moon landingHumans walk on the Moon for the first time.
  72. 1969Boeing 747The first widebody jumbo jet cuts ticket prices and opens mass long-haul travel.
  73. 1969ConcordeAn Anglo-French airliner carries passengers at twice the speed of sound.
  74. 1978GPSAtomic-clock satellites let any receiver on Earth find its position to within meters.
  75. 1981Space ShuttleA winged, partly reusable spacecraft flies 135 missions over 30 years.
  76. 1987Airbus A320 fly-by-wireComputers stand between pilot and control surfaces in the first digital fly-by-wire airliner.
  77. 1990Hubble Space TelescopeA 2.4 m telescope above the atmosphere transforms astronomy.
  78. 1995Predator UAVA remotely piloted aircraft flies long surveillance missions guided by satellite links.
  79. 1996GM EV1The first mass-produced, purpose-built modern electric car.
  80. 1998International Space StationSixteen nations assemble a 420-tonne laboratory crewed continuously since 2000.
  81. 2006Ultra-large container shipEmma Maersk carries over 11,000 containers, pushing ocean freight costs to pennies per item.
  82. 2008Falcon 1 reaches orbitSpaceX's Falcon 1 becomes the first privately developed liquid-fuel rocket to reach orbit.
  83. 2008Tesla RoadsterThousands of laptop cells give an electric sports car 390 km of range.
  84. 2012Tesla Model SA long-range electric luxury sedan shows EVs can beat gasoline cars outright.
  85. 2013Consumer quadcopterSmartphone sensors and batteries put a stable camera drone in anyone's hands.
  86. 2015Reusable orbital rocketA Falcon 9 first stage returns from an orbital launch and lands upright.
  87. 2017Tesla Model 3A mid-priced EV built at scale becomes the best-selling electric car of its time.
  88. 2019StarlinkThousands of low-orbit satellites deliver broadband anywhere on Earth.
  89. 2020Crew DragonThe first commercially built spacecraft to carry astronauts to orbit.
  90. 2020Driverless robotaxi serviceWaymo opens fully driverless paid rides to the public in Phoenix.
  91. 2021Ingenuity Mars helicopterThe first powered, controlled flight on another planet.
  92. 2023Certified passenger eVTOLEHang's pilotless EH216-S wins the first type certificate for an eVTOL passenger aircraft.
  93. 2023EV tops global car salesThe Tesla Model Y becomes the world's best-selling car of any type.
  94. 2023Starship flight testsThe largest rocket ever built lifts off, aiming for full reuse of both stages.
  95. 2024Super Heavy booster catchMechanical tower arms catch a returning 70 m booster out of the air.
  96. August 2025Starship Flight 10Starship's first fully successful Block 2 flight.
  97. October 2025X-59 quiet supersonic jetNASA's X-59 flies, aiming to turn the sonic boom into a thump.
  98. November 2025Driverless robotaxis on freewaysRobotaxis take paying riders onto highways.
  99. November 2025New Glenn booster landingA second company lands an orbital-class booster.
  100. February 2026Mengzhou max-Q abort testChina tests the escape system for its lunar crew capsule.
  101. April 2026Artemis II crewed lunar flybyPeople fly around the Moon for the first time since 1972.
  102. May 2026Starship V3 debutThe larger Raptor 3 Starship flies from a new pad.
  103. July 2026Booster caught by a sea netChina recovers an orbital booster for the first time, with a net at sea.
  104. July 2026Vikram-1 reaches orbitIndia's first privately built orbital rocket succeeds on its first try.
  105. July 2026Starship deploys working satellitesStarship carries its first real payload: 20 Starlink V3 satellites.
  106. August 2026Zhuque-3 booster landingA Chinese private rocket lands its first stage on legs.

Projections 4

  1. around 2030Driverless taxis in most big citiesSummoning a car with no driver becomes normal in most large cities.
  2. around 2034Electric regional airlinersBattery and hybrid-electric planes fly short regional routes quietly and cheaply.
  3. around 2035Permanent lunar baseA crew lives year-round at the Moon's south pole, using ice for water and fuel.
  4. around 2038Crewed Mars landingHumans set foot on another planet for the first time.