1551

Timothy Bright born

1588

Timothy Bright’s ‘Characterie; An Arte of Shorte, Swifte and Secrete Writing by Character’ published and he received a patent for his shorthand system from Queen Elizabeth

1602

John Willis’ ‘Art of Stenography’ published

1627?-

1628?

John Willis believed to have died

1646

William Mason’s ‘LA Plume Volante’ published

1692

John Byrom born

1724

Byrom elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts

1742

Byrom’s shorthand system copyrighted

1749

Samuel Taylor born

1750

Thomas Guerney’s ‘Brachygraphy’ printed in Manchester

1767

John Byrom’s ‘Universal English Shorthand’ published in Manchester 4 years after his death

1772

Thomas Guerney appointed by the English Government as its first official shorthand writer

1786

Samuel Taylor’s ‘An essay intended to establish standard for an universal system of stenography’ published in London

1791

Samuel Morse born in America

1811?

Samuel Taylor believed to have died

1813

Isaac Pitman born in Trowbridge

1822

Benn Pitman born

1823

William Harding revised Taylor’s system

1829

Isaac Pitman took up Samuel Taylor’s shorthand

1837

Isaac Pitman ‘Stenography Sound-Hand’ published

Pitman shorthand became the ever first subject taught by correspondence

Jacob Pitman, Isaac Pitman’s elder brother, took Isaac’s ‘Sound-Hand’ with him to Australia

1839

The First Phonetic Institute opened at No 5 Nelson Place, Bath by Isaac Pitman

1840

The second edition of Pitman’s ‘Stenography Sound-Hand’ published and by the end of the year the third edition was on the shelves

1842

The ‘Phonographic Journal No 1’ went on sale (now the Pitman’s Phonetic Journal)

1843

The Phonographic Correspondence Society established in the United Kingdom

1844

Morse demonstrated to Congress the practicality of the telegraph by transmitting the famous message "What hath God wrought" over a wire from Washington to Baltimore

1845

Isaac Pitman established his first printing press

1846

‘A Phonographic Dictionary of the English Language’ the first ever Pitman dictionary published, containing 12,000 outlines

1851

The Second Phonetic Institute opened by Pitman at Upper Bristol Road, Bath

Isaac Pitman won a bronze medal at the Great Exhibition for his printed shorthand

1852

Benn Pitman arrived in America and introduced Pitman shorthand

Benn Pitman established the Phonographic Institute of Cincinnati

1854

Benn Pitman’s ‘The Reporters Companion’ published

1855

Benn Pitman’s ‘The Manual of Phonography’ published

Pitman’s Third Phonetic Institute opened at Parsonage Lane, Bath

The first Shorthand Speed Certificates issued by the Phonetic Institute in Bath

1857

The revised vowel scale introduced by Isaac Pitman but not adapted by many American writers

J Graham’s ‘Brief Longhand’ published in America

1862

Duplicate hook fr, vr, thr, Thr and large hooks for fl, vl, shl, ml, nl introduced by Isaac Pitman

1864

The Royal Society of Arts began shorthand examinations

1865–7

Benn Pitman led a team of 5 stenographers at the trial of President Lincoln’s assassin

1867

wl and lr introduced to the Pitman system

John Robert Gregg born on 17 June in Shantonaugh, County Managhan, Ireland

Benn Pitman’s ‘The Assassination of President Lincoln and the Trial of the Conspirators’ published

1869

kw introduced into the Pitman system

1870

The Pitman’s Metropolitan School opened in London

1872

Seventeen enthusiastic writers of Pitman's shorthand established the Phonetic Shorthand Writers Association in Great Britain

1873

wh added to the Pitman system

1874

Pitman’s Forth Phonetic Institute opened at Nos 6 & 7 Kingston Buildings in the Abbey Churchyard, Bath

1879

Miles Bartholomew received a patent in America for the first shorthand machine

1884

The double-length principal extended the Pitman system

The ‘Pitman v Hine’ copyright action

The ‘Acropolis of Athens’ depicting 4^th century BC Greek shorthand discovered in Athens

1886

Pitman went into partnerships with his sons Alfred and Ernest to form Isaac Pitman & Sons

The first million copies of the ‘Phonographic Teacher’ sold in Great Britain

1887

Pitman’s large initial circle sw adopted

The tercentenary of Timothy Bright

The Golden Jubilee of Pitman shorthand

1888

The 28 paged ‘Light – Line Phonography’, the first ever Gregg’s shorthand book published in Great Britain

Pitman shorthand became an examinable subject for secondary schools with the Oxford Local Examining Board

1889

Pitman shorthand first recognised by the British Government in the ‘Technical Instruction Act’

1890

Pitman shorthand included in the British School Code

National Phonographic Society formed

1892

The ‘Pitman’s Shorthand Weekly’ established

1893

John Gregg opened his first school in Great Britain

Gregg moved to the United States of America

Gregg’s ‘Light- Line Phonography’ first published in the Untied States of America

1894

Isaac Pitman knighted by Queen Victoria

1895

Sir Isaac Pitman retired and his eldest son, Alfred took over the family business

1897

Sir Isaac Pitman died on 22 January in Bath

Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons commissioned a special building to house the Pitman’s Metropolitan School

1898

Phonetic Shorthand Writers Association and the National Phonographic Society merged to become The Incorporated Phonographic Society

The new Pitman’s Metropolitan School building opened in London

1899

Gregg Publishing Co established

The National Shorthand Reporters Association formed in Chicago in August

The Dutch system of shorthand ‘Groote’ introduced by A W Groote

1900

John Gregg started to edit ‘Gregg’s Writer’

The ‘Century’ edition of Pitman shorthand published

1901

Pitman’s Phonetic Institute extended

1902

‘Sir Isaac Pitman: His Life and Labours’ by Benn Pitman and Alfred Baker published

‘Gregg’s Shorthand’, a revised version of ‘Light-Line’ published in America

1904

‘Sir Isaac Pitman 1813 – 1897- A Biographical Sketch’ first published

1906

The first commercially feasible stenography machine invented by Ward Stone Ireland

1908

James Hill born near Bradford

1909

The National Court Reporters Association (NCRA) organised the first National Speed Contest for shorthand in America

1910

Benn Pitman died in America

1913

The introduction of the Stenotype machine into the US court system

The ‘Centenary’ edition of Pitman shorthand introduced to mark the 100^th anniversary of Sir Isaac Pitman birth

1920

Gregg edited ‘American Shorthand Teacher’ which would later become ‘Business Education World’ in 1933

1921

The Pitman Commercial Examinations Department established at the Phonetic Institute

1922

The ‘New Era’ edition of Pitman shorthand published by Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons

A world record of 350 words per minute achieved by American Nathan Behrin during a 2 minute test using the Pitman system

1924

Emma Dearborn devised a Speed Writing System in the USA

1929

The 50^th anniversary of Gregg’s shorthand system

Gregg’s frequency-of-words method introduced

1932

The ‘Hy-Speed Longhand’ first published in America

1940

Gregg’s ‘New Rapid Course’ introduced to simplify the system for those attending evening classes and day schools

1948

John Robert Gregg died

McGraw Hill acquired the rights to all his work

1949

‘Stenograph’ registered as a trademark in the USA

1950

Leon Sheff revised the Dearborn Speed Writing system

Forkner’s shorthand introduced in the USA

1951

The National Council for the Training of Journalists established in Great Britain

1952

In America the NCRA organised the first National Speed Competition for machine shorthand writers

James Hill experimented with his new shorthand system at Grantham College

1956

Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons Ltd turned down the chance to publish James Hill’s new system of shorthand

1963

The Diamond Jubilee of Gregg’s shorthand

1968

The first public demonstration of Teeline shorthand

1969

‘Basic Teeline: A Textbook of Fast Writing’ published by Heinemann

1970

The Pitman Collection transferred from Pitman Publishing Ltd to Bath University

1971

The Inaugural meeting of the Teeline Association

Teeline Education Ltd established

James Hill died on 2 June 1971

1972

‘Teeline Advanced’ and ‘Basic Common Word List’ published in September

1973

‘Advanced Practice Exercises’ published for Teeline

1974

Pitman introduced a new non-court based system called Pitman 2000

1975

Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons reincorporated as Pitman Ltd

1978

In America ‘Gregg’s Series 90’ introduced by McGraw Hill to mark the 90^th anniversary of the Gregg’s system

1982

Pitman Ltd become a public limited company

1985

The Pitman Examination Institute sold to the Longman Group

1987

-1988

First examinations for all systems offered by Teeline Education Ltd

1997

Bath Press Group Ltd (formerly part of Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons Ltd) reprinted ‘Sir Isaac Pitman 1813 – 1897- A Biographical Sketch’ to mark the 100^th anniversary of Sir Isaac Pitman’s death

2000

A trademark case bought by Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons Ltd against Pitman Education & Training Ltd over the use of the word ’Pitman’ in connection of examinations