Check out this animated image showing the evolution of our alphabet, starting from 900 BC and working it’s way up to the present. To save time I’ll quote:

The multistroke characters such as vanished in favor of new characters such as S and V.
…
Todays characters can be generated by a combination of horizontal vertical and diagonal lines at approximately similar angles (W,A,V,X, M, K and Y).

Not sure what the root cause behind these changes has been - efficiency, changing mediums (tablets -> scrolls -> paper -> printing), or political forces? - but it is always interesting to learn a little more about our civilization’s history.

(via Digg / CoMagz)

current twc: 20,648 (89 pages)