Blog Post #4

    Carrier Pigeons are a hallmark of communication. Humans have been using birds to send and receive messages as far back as Noah's Ark. After that, the Greeks used carrier pigeons to announce the results of the Olympic Games. Carrier pigeons had a very impactful effect on many ancient societies such as Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Rome. It is unknown which one of them actually invented carrier pigeons.

    The first somewhat modern use of carrier pigeons was in New Zealand in 1896. They were about half as fast as modern aircraft. They were also heavily used in World War I. They delivered messages that saved lives! Mine-sweeping boats used to carry pigeons with the exact coordinates of the boat so that the sailors on it could be rescued. In World War I, German Marksmen were put in charge of exterminating enemy carrier pigeons. The idea was that, if they could cut off communications between parts of opposing armies, the armies would act in separate parts instead of as a unified force. 

    In World War II, carrier pigeons carried a lot more than information. They started carrying cameras and bombs. A scientist by the name of Skinner was tasked with figuring out a way to make bombs that could target enemy aircraft and battleships. For some reason, his solution was pigeons. In a lab, the pigeons would peck a picture of a battleship or plane and be rewarded with some seed. Once it was concluded this could work, pigeons were put inside missiles and tasked with pecking a screen when they saw a battleship. This guided the missiles precisely where to aim and the clever pigeons were rewarded with an explosive end in service of their country. This somewhat hilarious but surprisingly effective strategy was referred to as Project Pigeon. Pigeons also got promoted from transporting information to recording it. America strapped cameras to pigeons and had them fly over suspected enemy bases. Pigeons are a common animal with a low flight path so nothing they were doing seemed at all suspicious. Most information about this is still classified. 

    The impact of carrier pigeons on modern technology is huge. Before smartphones, telephones, and fax machines there was the carrier pigeon. If carrier pigeons never existed we may not have texting, emailing, or direct messaging. Carrier pigeons existed before newspapers and radios. For a while, carrier pigeons were almost the sole source of news and information transmission. This is an invention that definitely changed the world for the better. Carrier pigeons absolutely revolutionized communication as we know it. It is an invention with pretty much zero negative effects. Overall, carrier pigeons are the grandfathers of instant messaging. Communication as a whole walks in the footsteps of carrier pigeons.