Prior to the invention of tension rods drum skins were attached and tuned by rope systems such as that used on the Djembe or pegs and ropes such as that used on Ewe Drums, a system rarely used today, although sometimes seen on regimental marching band snare drums.

Prior to the invention of movable type, " woodblock printing " was used in China to print an entire page of a specific text.

Prior to the invention of cardiopulmonary resuscitation ( CPR ), defibrillation, epinephrine injection, and other treatments in the 20th century, the absence of blood circulation ( and vital functions related to blood circulation ) was historically considered to be the official definition of death.

Prior to the invention of the dishwasher in 1886, hand-washing primarily with simple detergents was common.

Prior to the invention of home broadband, dial-up internet was the only means by which one could download songs, movies, e-mails, etc.

Prior to Rillieux's invention, two engineers developed a vacuum pan and electric coils to improve the process of making sugar, but this was unsuccessful due to the use of steam at wrong locations in the machine.

Prior to the invention of calculus mathematicians were able to calculate tangent lines by the method Pierre de Fermat's method of adequality and René Descartes method of normals.

Prior to 1939 Mohaupt had demonstrated his invention to British and French ordnance authorities.

Prior to the invention of this process by Leo Vollbracht, who worked at the Dutch chemical firm Akzo, no practical means of dissolving the polymer was known.

Prior to the invention of the SVC, power factor compensation was the preserve of large rotating machines such as synchronous condensers or switched capacitor banks.

Prior to his invention, red rubber tubes were used, sterilized, and then re-used which often led to the spread of disease and also held a high risk of infection.

Prior to the invention of movable type in the West in the mid-15th century, texts were copied by hand and the small number of texts generated few occasions for these rights to be tested.

Prior to the invention of the sawmill, boards were rived and planed, or more often sawn by two men with a whipsaw, using saddleblocks to hold the log, and a saw pit for the pitman who worked below.

Prior to the invention of the linked-list a dope vector was used internally in the internal structure of computer systems.

Prior to the invention of cheap, abundant diode lasers, red HeNe lasers were widely used in barcode scanners at supermarket checkout counters.

Prior to the invention of the printing press, the only way to obtain a copy of a book was to copy it out by hand.

Prior to the invention of this process by Leo Vollbracht, working at the Dutch chemical firm AKZO, no practical means of dissolving the polymer was known.

Prior to the invention of photography, all astronomy was done with the naked eye.

Prior to the invention of title insurance, buyers in real estate transactions bore sole responsibility for ensuring the validity of the land title held by the seller.

Prior to the invention and adoption of mechanized mowers, ( and today in places where use of a mower is impractical or uneconomical ), grass and grain crops were cut by hand using scythes or sickles.

Prior to the invention of the mercury barometer, it was very difficult to gather numerical data of any predictive value.

Prior to the invention of the diamond anvil cell, static high-pressure apparatus required large hydraulic presses which weighed several tons and required large specialized laboratories.

Prior to World War II and the invention of radar, acoustic mirrors were built as early warning devices around the coasts of Great Britain, with the aim of detecting airborne invasions.

Prior to the invention of the keyed trumpet, the prominent trumpet of the time was the natural trumpet.

Prior to 1845, transportation of inland mail, other than by railroad or steamboat, was given to bidders who offered stage or coach service.

Prior to 1914, travel from Tampa, Florida, to St. Petersburg, located on a then-isolated peninsula, required a slow steamboat trip across Tampa Bay or a circuitous, three-hour journey by railroad.

Prior to the tunnel being built, the LIRR's western terminus was Atlantic Street at Clinton Street.

Prior to this time, the western hills of Allegheny County consisted largely of rolling farms and small residential developments.

Prior to fall 2006, Williams Elementary School, Marsh Middle School, and W. T. White High School served western Highland Park.

Prior to about 1800, the crest of the Appalachian Mountains was seen as the western frontier.

Prior to 1913, the town, situated on the western bank of the Pawtuxet River, was the population and industrial center of the larger town of Warwick.

Prior to 2004, the route's last 20 miles ( 32 km ) were co-signed with U. S. Route 101 from the highways ' junction south of Seaside north to Astoria where its intersection with U. S. Route 30 was also U. S. 30's western terminus.

Prior to the 2010 election Bathurst was within the Macquarie federal electoral district which was more easterly based including the Blue Mountains area with Bathurst as the western boundary of the district.

Prior to the opening of the Yellowhead Highway, Highways 5 and 14 both ran the width of Saskatchewan-the respective eastern and western portions of these highways retain their original designations.

Prior to the creation of the Nevada Territory, the area was part of western Utah Territory and was known as Washoe, after the native Washoe people.

Prior to this demolition, the Fort had been built between 1686 and 1743 by the British East India Company with three gates ( the Apollo Gate, the Church Gate and the Bazaar Gate ), a moat, esplanade, level open spaces on its western fringe ( to control fires ) and residences.

Prior to the find Olmec-influenced statuary and architecture had been almost completely unknown for other sites in the western Morelos region, and Zazacatla's excavation represents the strongest evidence yet for some form of trade or contact between the area and the " Olmec heartland " in the Gulf Coast region, some 400 km ( 249 mi ) to the east.

Prior to the split, Mishima District covers the cities of Kashiwazaki ( excluding the western part of the city ), village of Kariwa, Nagaoka ( parts of the former towns of Oguni and Koshiji ).

Prior to the completion of Corridor X in western Alabama, U. S. 43 and U. S. 278 shared a concurrency with U. S. 78 between Guin and Hamilton.

Prior to the First World War women's role in society in western countries was generally confined to the domestic sphere ( but not necessarily their own home ) and to certain types of jobs.

Prior to the 1908 exhibition, the western terminus of the Central London Railway ( CLR ) was at Shepherd's Bush.

Prior to this advent any U. S. Mail bound for western localities was transported by ship across the Gulf of Mexico to Panama, where it was freighted across the narrow isthmus to the Pacific and put back on a ship which then departed for points in California.

Prior to the late nineteenth century, western ( specifically European ) empires studied what was said to be high culture of the Middle East, being literature, language, and philology ; however, a reciprocal program and curriculum of study did not exist in the Orient which looked at European lands.

Prior to 1995, the adjacent stations were Millswood and Hawthorn ; both of these stations were closed when the western track was converted to standard gauge ( in 1995 ).

Prior to 16 million years ago, the western Cascade Volcanic Arc stratovolcanoes erupted with periodic regularity for over 27 million years, even as they do today.

Prior to My Three Sons, Demarest appeared with veteran western film star Roscoe Ates in the 1958 episode " And the Desert Shall Blossom " of CBS's Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

Prior to 2001, the community of Orleans was spread over two municipal jurisdictions, the eastern portion being in the pre-amalgamation City of Cumberland, the western portion in the City of Gloucester.

Prior to his role in the western theater, he commanded forces under General Richard Taylor about Bayou Teche in south Louisiana.

Prior to 1904, the Bilibil people lived on an island offshore from Madang, trading clay pots along the coast from Karkar Island to western Morobe Province.

Prior to this event, Maryland had held out and refused to ratify the Articles until every state had ceded its western land claims.