Historical contribution
What Edison contributed
Edison’s 1877 tinfoil phonograph was the first machine to record and reproduce sound through one mechanical system. His laboratories and companies also developed motion-picture cameras, viewing systems and production practices.
Why it mattered
The phonograph turned sound into a repeatable stored object and created a path toward recorded music, speech archives and mass audio industries.
Connected topics
Where this fits in ITEM
Evidence
Sources and further reading
- Edison’s Talking Machine
Smithsonian National Museum of American History
- History of the Cylinder Phonograph
Library of Congress
- Thomas Edison Timeline
Library of Congress
- The Gramophone
Library of Congress
- From the Recording Registry: Phonautograms
Library of Congress
- Phonautograms,
Library of Congress, National Recording Preservation Board
- Volta Laboratory experimental recording and graphophone collections
Smithsonian Institution