History of transport

This is a hollowed-out tree trunk that has been made into a simple canoe, called a dugout. It might not look very impressive, but this boat is actually one of the first types of transportation humans ever invented! The world’s oldest boat dates back to 7600 BCE. It’s the Pesse Canoe, discovered in the Netherlands. As civilizations grow, boats get bigger so they can be used in trade and war.

Around 3000 BCE, in the Mediterranean, ships powered by rowing, called galleys, are developed. Later, between 1300 BCE and 900 BCE, Polynesian peoples build sailing vessels that can travel thousands of kilometres across the Pacific Ocean. In the meantime, changes are happening in the way people travel on land. It’s difficult to know exactly when humans first begin using animals for transportation. But, experts believe that domestication of the horse probably happens between 4000 and 3000 BCE.

Evidence from modern horse DNA, including changes in their muscles and brains, supports this. Donkeys and camels are domesticated around the same time. It is also around this period that the wheel is invented in Mesopotamia. People first use wheeled vehicles around 3500 BCE. One historical artifact that tells us this information is this ceramic vase found in Southern Poland: the Bronocice pot.

On its surface is the earliest known depiction of a four-wheeled vehicle with two axles. In the seventeen and eighteen hundreds, many new technologies emerge -- it's the Industrial Revolution. Transport is one area where rapid progress is made, thanks to the invention of new types of engines... With steam-power, sailing is faster and more reliable. And from the 1820s, the steam engine is also used in a completely new mode of transportation - trains.

With trains, it’s easier to get around than ever before. In 1886, German Karl Benz copyrights his automobile design. It uses a combustion engine that runs on fuel and produces a lot of energy. He is generally considered as the inventor of the modern car. Cars are a luxury not many can afford.

Soon, a new method of manufacturing cars - along an assembly line - will make them affordable for regular people. And what about traveling in the air? In 1903, two American brothers, Orville and Wilbur Wright, achieve the first official motor-powered flight - they invent the world’s first airplane. Within a few short years, airplanes are being equipped with guns to fight in World War I. The period of 1918 to 1939, between the two World Wars, is sometimes called the Golden Age of Aviation.

The slow wood-and-fabric planes of World War I are replaced by faster metal planes, and the jet engine is developed. Many commercial airlines start during this period too. Long-distance flights for travellers become possible for the first time. The early services use large aircraft called airships that are a bit like big balloons. They lift off from the ground because they are filled with a gas that is less dense than air Many small and lightweight goods are also transported by air.

Some of the first international flights are actually mail flights, bringing letters around the world in a matter of hours instead of weeks. But, can people fly higher? Maybe even all the way to outer space? Reaching space first becomes the goal of many countries. In 1961, Soviet pilot Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human to go into outer space.

Is this the limit of human transportation? Not at all! Now, on high-speed rail, trains can travel faster than 350 kilometres per hour. And some companies have started testing cars that can drive themselves! Who knows what the future of transportation holds?