Travel is something we take for granted in this modern day, after all we book a last minute holiday on our smartphones, or fill out an E111 application form online and explore Europe. The fact of the matter is we wouldn’t have been able to do these things a few centuries ago. Horse and cart was the only method of transport available for a very long time, and the daily train or bus commute we’re used to each day would have taken a number of days if we only had access to horses. Here we take a look at the evolution of transport through the centuries.

Boats

Although the earliest designs would be rather crude by modern comparisons, boats have been around in some form or another for over 900,000 years. There were never big enough for anybody to travel any great distance and there was also no source of power. It wasn’t until the late 1700’s that boats of any size and power were built to handle longer journeys. By 1776 large ships were regularly used to trade goods between countries. Today we can order practically anything we want from anywhere in the world at the click of a button and have it delivered to us within a matter of days by companies like DHL and Amazon Prime.

Trains

George Stephenson built the first public railway in 1825 that ran from Stockton to Darling in the northeast of England. Stephenson’s Rocket, although there were some designs and tests throughout the late 1700’s, Stephenson’s design was the first to bring together a number of separate innovations that resulted in a very advanced locomotive. Since then the railway industry has rapidly developed, constantly improving rail technology for millions of passengers worldwide. Richard Branson’s Virgin, in particular, are well known for their Pendolino and Super Voyager trains that have top speeds of 125 mph to ensure that passengers can get to their destination quicker than ever before. There is also the option to travel between countries by rail, passengers can get from Dover to Calais in the space of 20 minutes, without seeing even a drop of water.

Planes

After many centuries and dreams of being able to fly just like birds, it wasn’t made a reality until the Wright brothers developed the first aircraft in the early 1900’s. It took years of dedication, trials and error before they made the Wright Flyer I that became the blueprint for many major aircrafts today. Wilbur Wright died only nine years after the first flight, at the age of 45, so he never lived to see the achievements of the aircraft. Orville, who died in 1948, lived another 26 years after his brother’s death and saw the advancements of the airplane, especially in war efforts, but even he could never imagine how they are commercially used in holiday making today.