top of page
  • TikTok
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram

TRANSPORTATION

Carriage-removebg-preview.png

Overall

SIDE Ladder.png

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


SIDE Ladder.png

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).
Screenshot 2024-12-16 at 16.55.04.png

SCALA

lists

CONTACT US

We'd Love to Hear From You!

If you would like to submit a list request, talk business or send over your thoughts, we are all ears!

GET ON THE LADDER!

© 2025 by Scala Lists. All Rights Reserved.

bottom of page