The History of Media (The Beginning-1950 A.D.)

Smoke Signals - 900 B.C.

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Soldiers guarding the Great Wall of China first used smoke signals in ancient China around 900BC. If an enemy were attacking or sighted in the distance, the guards would light a fire, signaling from tower to tower along the wall to alert the other soldiers further along the wall of the impending threat. By passing the message from tower to tower, they were able to relay a message as far as 300 miles in only a few hours. 

They used a mixture of wolf dung, saltpeter and sulfur to create dense smoke that was easily seen from a distance.

As a method of passing messages over long distances before the invention of radios, telegraphs etc, smoke signals were an important form of media, and were a forerunner to more modern methods of communication we have today.


Want to Learn How to Send a Smoke Signal?

http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/survival/wilderness/how-to-send-smoke-signal1.htm