The history of data communications dates back to prehistoric cavemen. Data communications has been an important part of society since its creation, and continues to grow day by day. This essay will inform the reader about the history of data communications from the nineteenth century to the present.
In the nineteenth century there were inventions in data communications that we still use today. In eighteen thirty-seven Samuel Morse invented the first electronic communication device called the telegraph machine. The telegraph machine was used by railroads to help prevent head-on collisions. In eighteen seventy-four Emil Baudot, the forerunner of many data processing codes, created a constant length code that used five signals to represent a character. Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in eighteen seventy-six, and the telephone is still used to this day for data communications. Gulielmo Marconi created a wireless telegraph in eighteen ninety-six. The wireless telegraph was a major breakthrough in the development of broadcast communications.
The twentieth century advanced data communications to new heights with many technological breakthroughs. In nineteen ten the teleprinter service was introduced. Teleprinter service was automatic telegraph equipment used by the postal service. In nineteen twenty the world's first radio broadcast was transmitted by KDKA. The first successful television demonstration was completed in twenty-seven. In forty-four Harvard University built the first operational computer called the Mark I. Two years later in forty-six the first programmable computer, called the ENIAC computer, was introduced. The first transcontinental television broadcast was carried by the first coaxial cable system in fifty-one. That same year the first commercial computer was sold to the U.S.bureau of the census. Fifty-eight was the year the first data communication network was put into place by the department of defense.
