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Thomas Edison "Invents" the Phonograph
The earliest way to listen to music and other sounds. After about a year, the Phonograph was one of the most wanted items on the shelves. Edison envisioned an even better machine, one that would display moving pictures accompanied by sound from the Phonograph. -
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Emergence of Motion Pictures
The first machine made that was able to showed animated pictures was the "zoopraxiscope".William Lincoln patented this idea, photographs were watched through a slit in the zoopraxiscope. -
Galloping Horse Film
Railroad tycoon Leland Stanford hires British photographer Eadweard Muybridge to photograph a horse galloping to settle a bet whether or not a horse always has a foot on the ground while galloping. Muybridge sets up twelve cameras in a row all connected to tripwires alongside a track the horse will be running on. The experiment was pulled off flawlessly and Stanford won the bet as well as help create the very first video ever. -
The Kinetograph and Kinetoscope were created
Edison studied the works of Muybridge and the French scientist Etienne Marey. He then hired William Dickson to come up with the device he had been envisioning. The Kinetograph and Kinetoscope were created. The Kinetograph is considered the first viable motion picture camera. The Kinetoscope was made to view the film strips filmed by the Kinetograph through a little individual peephole. -
The Lumiere Brothers invent the Cinematographe.
A portable device that was both a camera and a projector. On March 22 the Lumieres projected their first film to a private audience in Paris. "Workers Leaving the Lumiere Factory", considered by most to be the very first motion picture. About six months later, the Lumiere Brothers rented a room to show films to a paying audience. "The Arrival of a Train at a Station" was one of the films. -
The Vitascope Projector is used for the first time
Edison wanted to keep up with the French. He purchased US inventor Thomas Armat's perfected projection machine known as the Vitascope. On April 23, 1896 Edison Company showed the first Vitascope projection to a paying audience in the United States. A year later the first building used solely for showing films was built in Paris. -
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Emergenceof the Studio System
The studio system was credited for producing some of the most legendary stars. Studios spent a lot of money to help create amazing tars. Studios back then provided training and coaching for any promising people. -
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Rise of the Motion Picture Industry
These motion pictures were first introduced in the 1890's. These were first shown as novelties than later on they were "chasers", which made the vaudeville audience realize it was time to leave. The vaudeville theater owners didn't usually pursue motion pictures as a standalone form of entertainment. -
Storytelling Arrives to Film
Georges Melies was one of the first to bring storytelling to film, using film as a device for showing dramatic scenes. Melies made over five hundred films between 1897 and 1913. Most were filmed stage plays, using magic and illusion within the film as well. -
The Great Train Robbery
An American named Edwin S. Porter took the narrative film even further than Melies. in 1903 he wrote, directed, photographed and edited "The Great Train Robbery." It was about 14 minutes long and consisted of approximately 20 shots in various location. It was the first western as well as the first film to be shot out of chronological order. "The Great Train Robbery" established the "shot" as the basic unit of filmmaking, instead of the "scene" like in Melies films. -
First Theatre in the U.S.
The US opened their first theatre on June 19, 1905 in Pittsburgh, charging a dime per person. -
Nickelodeon Theatres
New "Nickelodeon" theatres were popping up everywhere, they were the first permanent movie houses, they charged 5 cents for admission, which is how they got their name. By 1907 there were more than 7 or 8 thousand nickelodeons in operation. Films were getting more popular at a fast pace. They were much shorter than today's films, only about 15 to 30 minutes and were all silent, sometimes accompanied by pianos, gramophone discs, sound-effect specialists, live actors and even full-scale orchestras -
The Motion Picture Patent Company
A group of East Coast-based filmmaking companies (Edison Company included) formed a partnership to control and monopolize the film industry. Named the Motion Picture Patents Company (MPPC), they pooled everyone's patents in an attempt to protect profits and film copyrights, fight movie piracy, and reduce the power of film distributors. Many filmmakers were upset as well as nickelodeon owners and film distributors, filmmakers claimed that the firm was limiting their artistic freedom. -
Introduction of the 'Talkies"
Thomas Edison introduces his kinetophone, which makes talkies a reality. -
Movie Magazine
Photoplay debuts as the first magazine for movie fans. -
Birth of Hollywood
Many filmmakers moved to Southern California, where they made films competing against the MPPC. These filmmakers (Adolph Zukor, Marcus Loew, Jesse Lasky, Sam Goldwyn, the Warner Brothers, Carl Laemmle, William Fox, and Louis B. Mayer) were creating the film capitol of the world "Hollywood." In 1912 the US government filed a successful anti-trust suit on behalf of the independent Hollywood-based film companies against the MPPC. The government won the case and the MPPC was disbanded. -
Charlie Chaplin
In his second big-screen appearance, Charlie Chaplin plays the Little Tramp, his most famous character. -
First Animation
Winsor McCay unleashes Gertie the Dinosaur, the first animated cartoon. -
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The First World War
Archduke Franz Ferdinard is assassinated on June 28, 1914, and his death triggers the first multi-continental war spanning four years. The war primarily starts between Austria-Hungary and Serbia, and expands to other nations due to alliances. The war ends on November 11, 1918, with the surrender of Germany. The treaty of Versailles held Germany responsible for the war because they preemptively declard war on France, leadind to France and its allies and their allies being dragged into the war. -
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Arrival of Sound
In the mid-1920's many movies were threatened by the radio. Until the movies started having sound. The audiences then continued to watch movies, the radio did not beat out movies. -
First Disney Animation
Walt Disney creates his first cartoon, "Alice's Wonderland." -
The Jazz Singer
Popular vaudevillian Al Jolson astounds audiences with his nightclub act in The Jazz Singer, the first feature-length talkie.
