Communication...past, present, & future

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Lighthouses

Lighthouses were designed to guide ships and air planes away from dangerous areas of the coastline. They helped them see where the coastline was when it was too dark to see.

The first lighthouse dates back to 280BC and was built in Egypt. It was called the Lighthouse of Alexandria.


The first American lighthouse was built in Boston Massachusetts on Little Brewster Island in 1716. The originally used different types of oil to stay lit, but then turned electric because of the high costs of oil.


To read more about lighthouses and see more pictures of them you can visit http://www.pbs.org/legendarylighthouses/

15 comments:

  1. Lighthouses, interesting topic. Never would have thought to go this route with communication, good job!! Look how long it took the first American Lighthouse to be built compared to Egypt. This was probably one of the best inventions of the time, it probably saved many accidents from occuring. They are also so pretty to look at, even in the pictures

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  2. I think I visited that light house in Massachusets.. but i could be wrong! Lighthouses were an extremely helpful and necessacary invention... I have no idea if they still use lighthouses... Do they still use lighthouses today?

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  3. I like the post on lighthouses as a tool for communication mainly because of its simplicity. This simple form of communication is responsible for saving hundreds of thousands of lives over the years. They are not needed as much now with the advances in Lorance and sonars systems, but their beauty is captured in many beach and shore scene works of art. Nicely done!

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  4. I really like this blog the posts ive looked at have been really interesting. I definatley think light houses where a great invention. I wouldnt have even thought about light houses. This invention saved alot of lives and was very important in its time. They arent used as much now a days but i think light houses are really cool.

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  5. I love lighthouses and have a whole collection of them. I never knew until I read this blog that they were used to communicate danger to ships and air planes. Lighthouses were very interesting and important way of communication. Their beauty is really a work of art.

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  6. The first lighthouse was the lighthouse of alexandria is interesting. it was one of the ancient wonders of the world. Shame it toppled after an earthquake for it was the biggest library in the ancient world. Boston massachuets being the first is resonable with the boston harbor being the busiest in the early years. Cool for the ships not crashing itwas an interesting invention.

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  7. the best thing about the light house is that you can never get lost in one. its eather up or down.
    and on top of that the light is always on. so you kow you'll have plenty of sight. once i took the chance to walk inside of a light house but the fat guy at the door said "No."

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  8. Lighthouses are beatiful structures for the most part. It's interesting how now that there is GPS and other devices for guiding airplanes and ships - lighthouses are more of a tourist attraction than a guide. More advanced devices such as GPS certainly take away from the artistic beauty of lighthouse structures.

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  9. Lighthouses started as a symbol of hope for sailors who were out at sea and then they saw the light they knew they werent far from home. America is knewn for its lighthouses all over the coast. People find lighthouses to be beautiful and drive to the east coast to see them and visit historical lighthouses. Technology in a very basic form lighthouses have been a symbol for communcation for a long time

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  10. I saw on the news that some light-houses are getting recommisioned. You would think they would be decommisioned with GPS, but they are still a necessary precaution in sea travel.

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  11. Great job! Every lighthouse is truly magnificent. I too am one who enjoys seeing them at any of the beaches I go to. I don't think the beaches woud be the same without them. Any invention that saved thousands and thousands of lives is truly amazing.

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  12. You would think lighthouses were useless buildings just built to look pretty. Without lighthouses, many ships would have got lost! Good job on the facts you posted and the pictures. Hopefully people do not take these lighthouses for granted if the up-to-date technology fails on them!

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  13. I had no idea about why light houses were invented. I guess I really wasn't sure. That's awesome! they are awesome! I figured they had something to do with fog and ships. They have helped a lot of ships from being lost.

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  14. I think to know that in 280 BC there were light houses being used, and not only that but used in the same exact way as they are now is amazing. also they are cool looking. haha.

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  15. When thinking of communication, lighthouses did not come to mind but they were in fact a communication tool. Great idea! I like lighthouses and it's sad to think that these have/will become obsolete due to advances in technology. They are/were beautiful works of architecture in addition to serving an important function.

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