https://www.pitara.com/tags/past-technology/Recent content in Past Technology on Pitara Kids NetworkHugoen-usSat, 13 Jun 2026 21:46:31 +0530https://www.pitara.com/non-fiction-for-kids/features-for-kids/signals-of-the-past/Sat, 17 Mar 2001 12:11:07 +0000https://www.pitara.com/non-fiction-for-kids/features-for-kids/signals-of-the-past/<p>You want to send a message to someone. Immediately. No problem. You just pick up a land phone or a mobile phone, or send an email. The telegram is still there but many of us have forgotten about it.</p> <p>Now travel back in time to France, 206 years ago, when there was none of your latest technology. Not even the telegraph. But people still felt the need to send long distance messages.</p> <figure class="image-portrait-right has-caption"> <a href="https://www.pitara.com/media/features-55_1.gif" aria-label="Link to larger image"> <img src="https://www.pitara.com/media/features-55_1_hu_98c4e3e88e36474b.gif" width="450" height="671" alt="Signals of the Past []" loading="lazy"> </a> <figcaption>Signals of the Past []</figcaption> </figure> <p>It was then that a Frenchman called Chappe invented a code for the alphabet. It was called the semaphore. It was a code in which different positions of the human arm stood for a particular alphabet. Thus, there were 26 positions. People sent messages in this way by holding a flag in each hand to make sure that the positions were seen clearly, and a correct message was sent.</p>