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TRANSPORTATION

Overall
Oldest Modes of Transport
This list features the earliest known methods of human transportation throughout history.
RANK | TRANSPORT | AGE |
1 | Walking | Beginning of Humanity |
2 | Rafts | 800,000 BCE |
3 | Canoe | 8,040 BCE |
4 | Horse | 4,000–3,000 BCE |
5 | Donkey | 4,000–3,000 BCE |
6 | Sailing Boat | 3,500 BCE |
7 | Sled | 1,900 BCE |
8 | Wheelbarrow | 406 BCE |
9 | Stagecoach | 1200–1300 |
10 | Submarine | 1620 |
11 | Cable Car | 1644 |
12 | Horsebus | 1662 |
13 | Hot Air Balloon | 1783 |
14 | Tricycle | 1789 |
15 | Steamtrain | 1804 |
16 | Steamship | 1815 |
17 | Bicycle | 1817 |
18 | Kick Scooter | 1819 |
19 | Automobile | 1885 |
20 | Motorbike | 1885 |
21 | Electric Train | 1890 |
22 | Zeppelin | 1900 |
23 | Motor-Driven Aircraft | 1903 |
24 | Liquid-Fuelled Rocket | 1926 |
25 | Jet Engine Aircraft | 1939 |
26 | Autonomous Vehicle | 1986 |
27 | Segway | 2001 |
References
Local Histories, (n.d.). A history of transport. [online] Available at: https://localhistories.org/a-history-of-transport/ (Accessed 1 December 2025).
Historic UK, (n.d.). The stagecoach. [online] Available at: https://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/The-Stagecoach/ (Accessed 1 December 2025).
London Transport Museum, (n.d.). London's horse bus era 1829-1910. [online] Available at: https://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/collections/stories/transport/londons-horse-bus-era-1829-1910 (Accessed 1 December 2025).
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, (n.d.). The Wright brothers. [online] Available at: https://airandspace.si.edu/explore/stories/wright-brothers#:~:text=The%20Wright%20brothers'%20invention%20of,Flyer%2C%20truly%20changed%20the%20world (Accessed 1 December 2025).
Politico, 2022. The self-driving car was born in 1986. [online] Available at: https://www.politico.eu/article/delf-driving-car-born-1986-ernst-dickmanns-mercedes/ (Accessed 1 December 2025).
Vaucher, (n.d.). Prehistoric craft. [online] Available at: https://www.iro.umontreal.ca/~vaucher/History/Ships/Prehistoric_Craft/index.html (Accessed 1 December 2025).
Quiet Valley, (n.d.). The wheelbarrow: history and varied uses on the farm. [online] Available at: https://quietvalley.org/the-wheelbarrow-history-varied-uses-on-the-farm/#:~:text=The%20wheelbarrow%2C%20as%20we%20know,going%20up%20and%20down%20hills (Accessed 1 December 2025).
NASA, 2012. Rockets: a guide to history. [online] Available at: https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/rockets-guide-20-history.pdf?emrc=231d29 (Accessed 1 December 2025).
Science and the Sea, (n.d.). The first submarine. [online] Available at: https://www.scienceandthesea.org/program/first-submarine (Accessed 1 December 2025).
LTH Library, (n.d.). [PDF Document]. [online] Available at: http://www.lthlibrary.org.uk/library/PDF-130-1.pdf (Accessed 1 December 2025).
Tricycle Museum, (n.d.). History of tricycles. [online] Available at: https://tricyclemuseum.wordpress.com/2-history-of-tricycles/ (Accessed 1 December 2025).
Exploratorium, (n.d.). Cycling. [online] Available at: https://www.exploratorium.edu/explore/cycling/frames#:~:text=Swiftwalkers,frame%20was%20a%20wooden%20beam (Accessed 1 December 2025).
Wikipedia, (n.d.). Kick scooter. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kick_scooter (Accessed 1 December 2025).
Airships.net, (n.d.). Zeppelins. [online] Available at: https://www.airships.net/zeppelins/#:~:text=The%20First%20Zeppelin%3A%20LZ%2D1&text=The%20ship%20was%20completed%20in,flight%20on%20July%202%2C%201900 (Accessed 1 December 2025).
Hiller Newspaper, (n.d.). Glide through the history of sled riding. [online] Available at: https://www.thehillernewspaper.org/6068/sports/winter/glide-through-the-history-of-sled-riding/ (Accessed 1 December 2025).
Air & Space Forces Magazine, (n.d.). Engine history. [online] Available at: https://www.airandspaceforces.com/article/0182engine/#:~:text=On%20August%2027%2C%201939%2C%20a,company%20can%20build%20an%20engine (Accessed 1 December 2025).
Wikipedia, (n.d.). Timeline of transportation technology. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_transportation_technology# (Accessed 1 December 2025).

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