Upper and Lowercase Starts
29 Generations Ago (from 2020 CE)
Spaces between words started circa 800 CE. Over the next few centuries, writing evolved. By the invention of the printing press in 1440, we had punctuation pretty similar to today’s standard. About halfway, at the time of the Magna Carta in 1215, we still had mostly uppercase with spaces between words and an occasional period. Punctuation and spelling mostly standardized starting in the 1300s for the next century, just in time for the printing press.
Image: First page of “On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres” by Nicolaus Copernicus, 1543.
And now, a premium bonus.
Before punctuation and spacing, reading was much harder. But don’t let modern grammar rules freeze you. Writing well means more than being correct; it means being clear.
Subject: Journalism.
Grammar rules matter because they help make writing clear, stable, and shared. But when you write a first draft, just write. Try to remember the rules, sure, but don’t let them freeze the thought. Your first goal is clear communication. Say what you mean. Shape the idea. Then, during rewrites, clean up the grammar so the sentence carries the truth more smoothly.
What do you call information used to give historical or situational context?.
Answer. Background.
That Critical Thinking Story,
was first published on TST 1227 years ago.
