The History of Transportation

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Transportation has evolved significantly over the course of history, from the primitive body part known as the “foot”, to the molecular transporters we hope to have in the distant future. The idea of moving ourselves from one place to another has always been a prominent concept in our dinky little brains. Whilst that generalization seems simple, the amount of effort, determination, and engineering prowess that is implemented to achieve such a feat is in fact, the exact opposite of simple. The mechanical wonders (that can be classified as whimsical, in my eyes) that exist for the purpose of transporting anything and everything all derive from the same basic concept, “How can we move from here to there?” Without further ado, let’s travel back to 4,000 BC, where the first step in innovating transportation was taken (spoiler: it wasn’t taken with our feet). In 4,000 BC, automobiles and Boeing-777’s weren’t very common. Any interval of time that precedes this year had no particular way of moving around, except for our feet. In 4,000 BC however, horses and mules were domesticated, giving mankind something that they could mount and ride. The steeds were believed to have been domesticated in the Eurasian Steppe, a large portion of land between Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and the Black Sea, where horses and mules conveniently roamed freely and carelessly. The domestication of the horse marks the first time in history where humans began to use animals as a means of getting around, and it just so happened to be our most ample way of traversing land until the mid-1800s, ceasing at a slow and inevitable rate as the rise of the automobile and locomotive led a storm of innovation. Roughly occurring at around the same time as the horse’s domestication... ... middle of paper ... ... & Magnetism Pages." National High Magnetic Field Laboratory: Museum of Electricity and Magnetism. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. Plubins, Rodrigo Quiljaba. "Chariot." Ancient History Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. Thomas, Ron and Sydenham, Shirley. Ships:a timeline [Online] www.kidcyber.com.au (2012). Bradfield, Jinni. "KIDS’ BLOG! The Invention of the Wheel: How the Ancient Sumerians Got Humanity Rollin'!" AntiquityNOW. KidsNOW, n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. Bellis, Mary. "The Invention of the Wheel." About.com Inventors. About.com, n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. University, Cambridge. "Tracing the History of Horse Evolution and Domestication: Year In Review 2012 (horse)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. University, Princeton. "Domestication of the Horse." Domestication of the Horse. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2013.

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