Re:A US-born NASA scientist was detained at the border until...
by manarth on Sunday February 12, 2017 @06:59PM
(#13632001)
Passports have been around for over 1500 years [1].
There was a brief blip in the 19th century, as railways started to cross Europe and passport checks seemed pointless [2], but that aside, passports seem to have been more common than not.
Given how much was controlled by monarchy-issued licenses and charters, I doubt it was that easy to rock up and enter a foreign country without any papers, but I'd certainly be interested to learn more.
There was a brief blip in the 19th century, as railways started to cross Europe and passport checks seemed pointless [2], but that aside, passports seem to have been more common than not.
Given how much was controlled by monarchy-issued licenses and charters, I doubt it was that easy to rock up and enter a foreign country without any papers, but I'd certainly be interested to learn more.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passport#History
[2] http://www.wanderlust.co.uk/magazine/articles/destinations/a...