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The Microphone
In 1876, Emile Berliner invented the first microphone used as a telephone voice transmitter. -
Recording The Human Voice
While experimenting with a new telegraph device, Thomas Edison stumbles upon the beginnings of recorded sound. He notices a speech-like noise as he accidentally runs indented tin foil under the telegraph stylus. By the end of the year, he records "Mary Had A Little Lamb" on the first working phonograph, becoming the first inventor to successfully record the human voice (although the speaker is forced to shout to produce an audible playback). -
Invention of The Gramophone
In 1887, Emile Berliner invents the gramophone, which uses a disc rather than a cylinder as the recording medium. The discs are flat, measure 7 inches in diameter, and can hold up to 2 minutes of recorded sound. Berliner was the first inventor to stop recording on cylinders and start recording on flat disks or records. -
Wire Recording
The first wire recorder was a Valdemar Poulsen Telegraphone of the late 1890s. Wire recorders for dictation and telephone recording were made almost continuously by various companies (mainly the American Telegraphone Company) through the 1920s and 1930s, but use of this new technology was extremely limited. -
The Nickel Jukebox
One of the early forerunners to the modern Jukebox as we know was the Nickel-in-the-Slot machine. In 1889, Louis Glass and William S. Arnold, placed a coin-operated Edison cylinder phonograph in the Palais Royale Saloon in San Francisco. It was an Edison Class M Electric Phonograph in an oak cabinet that was refitted with a coin mechanism patented by Glass and Arnold. -
The First Million-Seller Song
The first "million-seller" hit song (sold via music sheet) was "After The Ball" By Charles K. Harris, ho was both its composer and publisher. -
The Victoria
RCA Victor's "Victoria" model record player is introduced. It has a variable turntable speed control to accomodate the wide range the phonograph records produced at that time: Victor's speeds ranged from 71-76 rpm. Columbia was producing discs as 80rpm. -
The First Radio Station
Charles "Doc" Herrold and his assistant Ray Newby began an experimental "wireless" voice and music broadcasts from San Jose, California using experimental radio
