Mobility through the ages: a look at the distant future
PublicThe first steps: migration out of Africa
Early humans spread on foot from East Africa across the rest of the world.
The wheel: a revolution on the road
In Mesopotamia the wheel is invented, initially for potter's wheels and later for carts.
The horse as partner: domestication on the steppes
On the Central Asian steppes the horse is domesticated, giving humans unprecedented speed and range.
camel domestication and the rise of desert caravans
On the Arabian Peninsula, the dromedary is domesticated, enabling long-distance trade through desert regions.
Across the ocean: Polynesian navigation
Polynesian seafarers colonize thousands of islands scattered across the Pacific Ocean using outrigger canoes.
The Silk Road under the Han dynasty
Caravan trade connects China with Central Asia and beyond.
The Roman road network
Rome builds an extensive system of paved roads connecting the entire empire, from Britannia to Mesopotamia.
Monsoon trade across the Indian Ocean
Sailors learn to use the seasonal monsoon winds to sail directly between East Africa, Arabia and India.
camel caravans crossing the Sahara
The introduction of the camel as a pack animal makes it possible to systematically cross the Sahara and establish trade networks between North and West Africa.
The Grand Canal of China
The Sui dynasty completes an enormous canal system connecting the Yangzi and Yellow Rivers, revolutionizing the domestic transport of grain and goods.
Viking ships conquer the North Atlantic waters
Scandinavian seafarers build fast, agile longships with which they reach Iceland, Greenland, and even North America.
The Mongol Yam network connects a continent
Genghis Khan and his successors build a system of postal stations that lets riders race across Eurasia in record time.
Zheng He sets sail with the Chinese treasure fleet
The Ming admiral departs with hundreds of gigantic junks on the first of seven great voyages of discovery to Southeast Asia, India and Africa.
The Incas complete the Qhapaq Ñan through the Andes
An impressive road network of more than thirty thousand kilometers connects the empire from coast to high mountains, without the use of wheels or horses.
Songhai-rijk bloeit dankzij trans-Saharaanse karavaanroutes
In the powerful Songhai Empire in West Africa, well-organised camel caravans form the backbone of trade and mobility between Timbuktu and North Africa.
Columbus crosses the Atlantic Ocean
Christopher Columbus reaches the Caribbean with his caravels, marking the start of a new era of transatlantic mobility and global connections.
Magellan and Elcano complete the first circumnavigation of the world
A Spanish expedition led by Ferdinand Magellan, completed after his death by Juan Sebastián Elcano, becomes the first to sail around the world.
Horses reach the Great Plains of North America
Through Spanish colonisation, horses spread from Mexico to indigenous peoples on the North American plains, radically transforming their mobility.
The Manila galleon route connects Asia, America and Europe
Spanish galleons begin a fixed shipping route between Manila in the Philippines and Acapulco in Mexico, causing Asian goods to flow to Europe via America.
Manila becomes the hub of the galleon trade
The Spanish founding of Manila on Luzon grows into the central transshipment point between Asia and America.
Yermak's expedition opens up the Siberian route to the east
The Cossack leader Yermak Timofeyevich defeats the Khanate of Sibir and opens the way for Russian expansion overland into Asia.
Oñate blazes the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro
Juan de Oñate leads a large colonist expedition from New Spain to New Mexico, establishing a permanent caravan route through the desert.
Tokugawa Japan formalizes the Tōkaidō highway
Under the shogunate of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the Tōkaidō, the main connecting road between Edo and Kyoto, is officially established with stations and inns.
The Ottoman Empire formalizes the menzilhane postal network
Sultan Murad IV consolidates the empire-wide system of relay stations (menzilhane) along the great caravan routes between Istanbul and the provinces.
Extension of the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro to Santa Fe
The Spanish crown extends the royal trade road further north from Mexico City, deep into what is now the southwestern United States.
Blaise Pascal introduces public transport in Paris
The French scientist Blaise Pascal founds the carrosses à cinq sols: horse-drawn carriages that travel through Paris along a fixed route and timetable at a fixed price.
Cugnot builds the first self-propelled steam vehicle
The French engineer Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot constructs the Fardier à vapeur, a steam-powered vehicle intended to move artillery.
Cugnot builds the first self-propelled steam vehicle
The French engineer Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot constructs the Fardier à vapeur, a steam-powered vehicle intended to move artillery.
The Montgolfier brothers make mankind take flight
In Paris, the first manned flight with a hot air balloon takes off, and man leaves the ground for the first time in a controlled manner.
Leap into the void: the first parachute jump
The Frenchman André-Jacques Garnerin jumps from a hot air balloon and lands safely with a parachute, a first in the history of mobility.
Fulton's Clermont sails up the Hudson
In New York, Robert Fulton's steamship the Clermont successfully sails from New York to Albany, marking the beginning of commercial steam navigation.
Von Drais and his Laufmaschine
The German baron Karl von Drais presents his two-wheeled 'Laufmaschine', the forerunner of the bicycle, with which humans can move faster than walking.
steam on the rails: the railway revolution
The first public steam railway line between Stockton and Darlington marks the beginning of the railway age.
India's first railway line: Bombay-Thane
The first passenger train in India runs between Bombay and Thane, a milestone for mobility in South Asia.
The Suez Canal connects two worlds
The opening of the Suez Canal in Egypt drastically shortens the shipping route between Europe and Asia.
The American transcontinental railroad completed
At Promontory Summit, Utah, the eastern and western railway lines of the United States are connected.
Japan's first railway line between Tokyo and Yokohama
Japan opens its first railway line, a symbol of rapid modernization during the Meiji era.
Benz Patent-Motorwagen: the birth of the automobile
Carl Benz patents his Patent-Motorwagen in Germany, widely regarded as the first true automobile.
The Trans-Siberian Railway: Russia's connection to the east
Russia begins construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway, which will eventually connect Moscow with Vladivostok.
The car for everyone: the Ford Model T
Henry Ford introduces assembly line production, making the automobile affordable for the masses.
KLM: the first permanent airline
Founding of the Royal Dutch Airlines, the oldest airline still in existence in the world.
The Graf Zeppelin circles the earth
The German airship Graf Zeppelin completes a spectacular round-the-world journey, demonstrating the possibilities of air transport over vast distances.
The German Autobahn: roads for the modern car
Construction of the first large-scale highways without intersections, designed for high speeds and growing car traffic.
Moscow opens its palace-like metro
The Soviet Union opens the Moscow Metro, with stations that resemble underground palaces more than transport hubs.
The first jet flight: the beginning of the jet age
The German Heinkel He 178 performs the first flight on jet propulsion, heralding a revolution in aviation.
The Vespa makes Europe mobile
Piaggio introduces the Vespa, a lightweight scooter that brings affordable individual mobility to war-ravaged Europe.
Toyota launches the Toyopet: Japan's answer to the automobile
Toyota launches the Toyopet SA, the first mass-produced Japanese passenger car after World War II.
The Comet opens the era of commercial jet flight
The De Havilland Comet flies the world's first commercial jetliner service, between London and Johannesburg.
the container transforms world transport
The first container ship, the Ideal X, sails out from New York, laying the foundation for modern container shipping.
Conquering the skies: commercial aviation
With the introduction of jet aircraft such as the Boeing 707, intercontinental travel becomes fast and accessible.
Man on the moon
Apollo 11 brings the first humans to the lunar surface, the furthest point mobility had ever reached.
First flight of the space shuttle Columbia
The American space shuttle Columbia launches for the first time, ushering in the era of reusable spacecraft.
Opening of the Channel Tunnel between France and the United Kingdom
An underground rail tunnel beneath the Strait of Dover directly connects the European mainland with the British Isles for the first time.
Launch of the Toyota Prius, the first mass-produced hybrid car
Toyota launches the Prius in Japan, the first affordable hybrid passenger car combining a combustion engine and an electric motor.
Opening of TransMilenio, Bogotá's bus rapid transit system
The Colombian capital Bogotá puts into service an extensive network of dedicated bus lanes, which becomes a model for fast and affordable urban transport around the world.
China opens first high-speed line for mass transit
The railway line between Beijing and Tianjin opens, heralding the rapid expansion of the Chinese high-speed rail network, which within decades becomes the largest in the world.
First public test rides with self-driving cars
In Nevada, Google's autonomous vehicles legally drive on public roads for the first time, a milestone for self-driving mobility.
Electric cars conquer the mass market
Tesla Model 3 is launched, making electric driving affordable for a wider audience.
Hyperloop test track reaches record speed
An experimental Hyperloop vehicle completes a test track in the Nevada desert at unprecedented speed.
Commercial space tourism becomes reality
Private companies such as Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin bring the first paying tourists to the edge of space, making space travel more accessible.
Trans-Asian hyperloop network opened
An ultra-fast vacuum tube network connects megacities such as Shanghai, Mumbai, Jakarta and Bangkok at speeds of up to 1000 km/h.
Artemis-Chandra international lunar base as a transfer station
A permanent moon base, built by a coalition of space agencies including NASA, ISRO, CNSA and the African space agency AfSA, serves as a stopover for crewed Mars missions.
Autonomous flying taxis conquer world cities
electric, self-driving air taxis
First permanent settlement on Mars established
An international coalition of space agencies establishes the first permanent human colony on Mars, a crucial step toward interplanetary mobility.
Space elevator at the equator completed
A kilometers-high space elevator, anchored near the equator in East Africa or Indonesia, enables cheap and energy-efficient transport between Earth and orbit.
mobility beyond earth: interplanetary settlements
Speculative future in which autonomous spacecraft and gravity tunnels enable regular traffic between Earth, the Moon and Mars.
the container transforms world transport
Entrepreneur Malcolm McLean had truck trailers without wheels loaded as standard containers onto a converted tanker, allowing goods to be transferred seamlessly from truck to ship to train from then on. What began as an efficiency drive between American ports would, within a few decades, grow into the foundation of world trade. Dockworkers who had loaded and unloaded by hand for centuries saw their work radically transformed by these seemingly simple steel boxes.