50 Moments That Changed the World of Travel

Let's face it-early man, still in his fur to keep warm and with a club in his hand, didn't exactly wake up in the morning and tell the wife, "Hey, let's fly to Vegas for the weekend!"

As with anything, there has been an evolution to the world of travel. From the seemingly benign contributions to the momentous, travel has changed and improved over a period of, oh…

Eons?

Travel, indeed, goes back to early man and has a glorious history. Here are 50 seminal moments that changed the world of travel.

Scientists have identified the earliest human species, homo erectus, as having originated in East Africa. This was about 70,000 years ago. Yet the first fossil was found in what is now Indonesia, some 5,000 miles away. Subsequent fossil finds since that first one in 1891 shows the transgression and a pattern of colonization through what is now Europe and Asia.

Voila! The first travelers!

One good invention begets another. Using logs as rollers is an ancient concept and in part, that's what turned into the wheel as we know it-spokes, axles, transportation. That happened about 3,500 to 5,000 years B.C.

The ancient land of Phoenicia, near what is now Lebanon and Syria, probably didn't invent the sailboat. Scholars believe that credit for the sailboat goes to another ancient civilization, Mesopotamia, roughly around the time the wheel was invented. But Phoenicia certainly refined its use for travel, moving around the Mediterranean Sea to trade its goods and spice.

About 600 years B.C., yet another ancient society, the Babylonians, are credited with creating the first map. It was done on a clay tablet and while it might not have been completely accurate-there is some discrepancy about what is real and what is mythological-it nonetheless helped set the stage for curiosity about travel.

Nothing is better than word-of-mouth, right? Well, the conquerors of the time would travel the world and bring back tales of ancient lands (among other things). The Vikings. The vast Roman Empire. The Mongols. The Greek Empire.

See the previous slide. They had a dream, and they had the intestinal fortitude to pull it off. Vasco de Gama. Christopher Columbus. Ferdinand Magellan. Leif Ericsson. Abel Tasman. Whether it was to prove the earth was round, to discover The Silk Route to what is present-day China, these explorers helped shape an important era of travel.

The legendary Sacagawea was perhaps the first great female tour guide/explorers, as she accompanied her husband, Toussaint Charbonneau, a fur-trapper, on the Lewis & Clark Expedition westward from 1804-06. And she did it with child in tow.

Robert Fulton is one of America's great pioneers, inventors and engineers, famous for inventing and building the first commercial steamboat, the Clermont, in 1807. It plied the Hudson River and became a means of transportation between New York City and Albany.

Between 1816 and 1822, Frenchman Nicephore Niepce is credited with taking the first image and putting it on paper. As years progressed, so did picture-taking, of course. Because, well, what is travel without hard-copy-or digital-memories?

In 1818, a four-ship cruise line began regularly scheduled service between Liverpool, England and New York City. The Black Ball Line carried passengers, mail, cargo and more. Interestingly, while the line was "regularly scheduled," it basically left port whenever it was filled and arrived whenever they could.

The Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) was the first true railroad line in the United States when it was chartered in 1827. It was designed to compete with the Erie Canal, which had just opened and drastically cut down time on the water for traders.

In 1841, a 33-year old British bloke named Thomas Cook arranged what is considered to be the first-ever organized tour. It was a train trip from Leicester to Loughborough, but it wasn't exactly for fun. Cook, a Baptist minister, organized the tour for a group of temperance supporters.

As daunting as it might seem to read those maps in cities like New York, the subway was a godsend. It was invented in 1863 by Charles Pearson when he proposed an underground railroad in London. In the first year, it carried 9.5 million passengers to all the great tourist attractions and beyond.

Jules Verne wrote the fantasy travel novel "Around The World In Eighty Days" in 1873, and it wasn't that far-fetched of an idea. In fact, 16 years later in 1889, American journalist Elizabeth Cochran basically re-enacted the novel for real, setting the world record for traveling around the world in 72 days.

It's a relic now, but for more than a century, the postcard was a staple of travel. Herrmann, an Austrian economist, invented the postcard in 1869 as a way of dropping a short note to loved ones back home. In 1902, the back of the postcard was divided for the message and the address, leaving the front for a picture.

While the Black Ball Line started the first regularly scheduled ocean passenger service, the actual first cruise liner as we know it today was launched in 1900. The Prinzessa Victoria Luise from the Hamburg-America Line featured 120 first-class cabins, a library and a gymnasium.

On a beach in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Wilbur and Orville Wright did the unthinkable. The brothers got a powered glider to achieve liftoff in December of 1903, stay in the air for 12 seconds, and safely land. Flight, as we know it, had dawned.

With the surplus of cars suddenly on the road, somebody thought it would be a good idea to mark the roads with bright, visible lines to help separate traffic. That person was Edward Hines, a member of the Wayne County (Mich.) Road Commission back in 1911. Legend has it he got the idea from seeing a milk delivery truck spilling its contents while driving.

If anything, you'd think the sinking of the unsinkable ship would have a negative effect on travel. And yes, news in 1912 of the Titanic hitting an iceberg and sinking in the Atlantic certainly caused many would-be travelers to think twice about taking a cruise ship overseas. But the tragedy led to an introspection on the part of the industry, which led to many safety improvements.

In 1914, barely 10 years after the Wright Brothers' historic flight, commercial air service took off. Modestly. It was a 23-minute flight from Tampa, Fla., to nearby St. Petersburg. But as far as the modern era of commercial jet flight, that took place in 1952 on the famed de Havilland Comet. The trip between London and Johannesburg took 23 hours.

In the aftermath of World War I and the creation of the League of Nations, passports were standardized across the world at a 1920 conference in Paris. It led to far greater access in crossing borders, particularly in Europe, and made tourism much easier.

Two major discoveries in the early 20th century helped fuel the wanderlust of travelers. The first was the discovery of the Inca ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru in 1911. The second, 11 years later, was the discovery of King Tutankhamun's tomb in Egypt with literally thousands of artifacts in the tomb. The discoveries drew worldwide press attention and, again, sparked the interest of the traveling public.

Created in 1926, the Michelin Star Guide to fine dining was originally intended to help boost car sales. It was given out for free with every sale. Instead, it morphed into the definitive rating system that remains today. How influential is it? A 2011 survey showed that securing a Michelin star could raise revenue at a restaurant by 25 percent.

In 1927, after six failed attempts by other pilots, Charles Lindbergh flew the 'Spirit of St. Louis' from New York to Paris in the world's first solo, nonstop transatlantic flight. Lindbergh became a hero, and passengers on U.S. airlines increased 3,000 percent in the next two years.

In the film 'The Aviator,' Howard Hughes turns to his chief aerospace engineer, Glen Odekirk, and asks if he's familiar with jet technology. "I know a little. I can work something to show you. Basic turbine stuff." He knew more than a little, largely because of one man-Frank Whittle, a Royal Air Force engineer who patented the jet engine in 1930, 17 years before Hughes wanted to inaugurate jet aircraft travel.

In May of 1937, the era of zeppelin travel came to an end when the Hindenberg burst into flames just before landing and docking in New Jersey. It was horrific, exacerbated by live nationwide news coverage that included the infamous "Oh, the humanity!'' call on radio.

Nothing helped usher in the era of great travel like the double whammy of the end of World War II and the start of the Baby Boomer generation, and the creation of credit cards in 1946. Buy now, pay later.

Sierra Sam was the first crash test dummy, built in 1949. The odd thing about this common part of testing the safety of cars, the original purpose of the crash test dummy was to test ejection seats on military aircraft. Now the data is enormously helpful in keeping cars safe.

Jack Kerouac picked up the mantle of romanticizing travel from Ernest Hemingway when 'On The Road' was published in 1957. It was equal parts inspiring and influential, feeding into the wanderlust of a younger generation.

Travel-the way we practice it, the equipment we use, the means to an end-affects everything. Even baseball. Want an example? Here's a perfect one. When the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants left New York City in 1958 for Los Angeles and San Francisco, respectively, one of the reasons was that transcontinental airline service was nonstop and faster than it had been even 10 years prior.

Interestingly, SABRE was developed to handle the reservations and bookings for American Airlines. But when you do your job so well you can afford to become what the full name implies-the SABRE Global Distribution System. That was in 1960; today, the three major GDS companies of SABRE, Travelport and Amadeus are used by more than 400,000 travel agents, 125,000 hotel properties and 400 airlines.

It took only three years for the first 100 million people to use Japan's Bullet Train, which made its debut in 1964. It was the first high-speed rail ever put to use.

Barclays Bank in London gets the innovative credit here for inventing the first ATM in 1967. Today, not only do we rely on them when traveling, we can even get pesos instead of dollars if need be.

Airplane travel changed forever in early 1969 when the Boeing 747-100 was introduced. It was bigger (two aisles), faster, and could hold more passengers than any other jet. This just shows how quickly travel was able to change in the last half of the 20th century and the first 20 years or so of this century-the 747 made its debut just 11 years after another game-changing plane, the 707.

While Sir Richard Branson and his contemporaries figure out how to finish off commercial trips to the moon these days, the 1969 moon landing was an incredible historical feat. Then, to walk on the moon, was even more spectacular and a feather in the cap of American ingenuity.

Government deregulation in the United States begat low-cost airlines, and the first one to hit the air in 1971 was Southwest. Still flying today, and still operating on the same principles as budget carriers, Southwest is among the top domestic airlines.

That was the proposal name for a patent by Bernard D. Sadow in 1972. Rolling luggage, pulley, suitcase on wheels... whatever you want to call it, it was a brilliant idea. And so easy, even a kid could do it!

Brad Pitt uttered that line in the Ocean's Eleven remake. OK, so minibar is one word but who's counting? The first hotel minibar was installed in 1974 at the Hong Kong Hilton, ushering in the era of ridiculously priced mini liquors and food.

Back in 1974, a Norwegian inventor named Tor Sornes heard the sad and troubling story of a women attacked in her hotel room by someone using a key to the room. To develop more security, Sornes invented what he called the 'VingCard.' Four years later, they debuted in the U.S. at the Peachtree Plaza Hotel in Atlanta.

The Brits and the French basically mastered the art of the getaway weekend by embracing Club Med when it began in 1950. Think of Hedonism as Club Med on steroids with no clothes. These clubs, the first opened in 1976, were sexually liberating-and that's about all we can say on a family site.

A joint venture between Great Britain and France, the Concorde was a supersonic jet that cut the time between New York and London in half. The first flight made its debut in 1976, and its power and speed and oddly shaped wings were captivating. But after a 2000 crash of an Air France Concorde, the planes were discontinued and sent to museums.

Today, there are almost 1,000 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. But in 1978, the first 12 were announced and it helped draw attention to some of the great-and some of the obscure-sites in the world. They included the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador and the Aachen Cathedral in Germany.

In a blow to travel agents and a boon to travelers who liked taking care of business by themselves, Expedia.com launched in 1996. In turn, that launched the era of hotel and airline reservations literally being done in the palm of your hand.

Hard to believe it's been little more than 20 years, but in 1998, the Federal Aviation Administration banned smoking on all U.S. planes. It was a controversial decision-and remains so-but as more information emerged about second-hand smoke, it was the right decision.

The tragedies of 9/11 remain heartbreaking to this day. When terrorists took over the controls of four planes and brought down the two Twin Towers in New York, a piece of the Pentagon in Washington and crashed into a field in Pennsylvania due to passenger revolt, it signaled a sea change in the way we travel. From three ounces or less of liquids in carry-on bags to removing shoes and belts, security measures have tightened immeasurably.

In 2008, American Airlines announced it would begin charging a fee for checked bags. Although Spirit had been doing so prior to '08, American became the first major airline to begin charging for luggage. It wasn't long before other major carriers fell in line.

The idea crystallized into reality in 2008, and while there have been plenty of issues associated with the company, this was akin to the debut of online travel agencies. Except Airbnb offered far more than just a 400 square foot hotel room.

As technologically advanced as we are, the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 on March 8, 2014, is still teaching us many things. The flight literally vanished from the radar-and while bits and pieces of the plane have washed up on shores, there has been no definitive identification of the missing jet. The tragedy has led to improvements in how to better track aircraft.

Airlines have gone out of their way to raise the bar on your in-flight experience, from electrical converters and entertainment packages on seat-back screens to USB ports and to, well, apartments in the sky. Etihad owns the crown today for decadent luxury with The Residence. It's a private three-room suite with butler service, a living room, bedroom and private bathroom with shower.