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1899 |
Frank Seaman begins manufacturing the Zonophone. Valdermar Poulsen of Denmark develops the first tape recorder. Gianni Bettini patents his Micro-Phonograph. |
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1914 |
The so-called "Little Wonder" record is introduced. It sells for ten cents. The first record library for public use is inaugurated in the St. Paul City Library, Minnesota. The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) founded. |
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1913 |
Edison introduces a phonograph that plays vertical-cut discs. The dance craze in America contributes to phonograph prosperity. |
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1912 |
Edison introduces the plastic Blue Amberol cylinder. Columbia discontinues manufacture of cylinders. |
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1911 |
John Philip Sousa's 100-piece band finishes an important two-year tour of the world, which helped popularize American marching music. |
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1909 |
The first appearance of famous "Nipper," the dog, appears on disc. Nipper is later pictured on Victrola records and phonograph advertising, head askew, staring into the loudspeaker horn, listening to a Victrola phonograph. First large-scale orchestral recordings are issued by Odeon in England. W.C. Handy's Memphis Blues originally a political campaign song called Mr. Crump - became the first published American blues song. It was later reworked as St. Louis Blues. |
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1908 |
Edison introduces the four-minute Amberol cylinder. Columbia founder Edward Easton falls from a train and sustains head injuries. Columbia discontinues single-sided records. |
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1907 |
Columbia introduces the Marconi Velvet Tone disc record, a noiseless, unbreakable record that is ahead of it's time; but the label lasts only a few months. Columbia produces concealed horn machines. Lee DeForest, a leading inventor of radio, telephone, and telegraph equipment, becomes the first disc jockey by using phonograph records to test wireless audio in New York City. |
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1906 |
The National Electric Signaling Co. makes the first radio broadcast at Brant Rock, Massachusetts. Victor markets the first horn-enclosed phonograph, called the Victrola. Pathe begins manufacturing vertical-cut discs and gradually abandons the cylinder. The first coin-operated disc phonograph with automatic changer is introduced by Automatic Machine & Tool Co. of Chicago. The Thomas A. Edison Phonograph Company produces what may be the first audio commercial, a demonstration recording for its new line of record players. |
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1905 |
Variety was founded in New York as the official trade paper of the live theater industry. The first coin-operated phonograph using cylinder records is introduced by John C. Dunton. The player piano which can be played manually or can play rolls of pre-encoded music is introduced. |
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1904 |
Caruso becomes an exclusive artist for Victor records. The Fonotipia Company is formed in Milan. Odeon issues the first double-sided records. Columbia introduces double-faced laminated records. The first long-playing records, which were recorded on 20 inch discs, were produced by the Neophone Co. in London, England. |
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1903 |
Columbia markets first records made in America recorded by celebrities. Victor records it's first Red Seal disc. The Columbia Company and Thomas Edison begin routinely releasing music recordings. Columbia manufactures the first custom label for Sears and Harvard. |
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1902 |
Enrico Caruso records for the Gramophone Co. in Milan, Italy. Columbia issues disc records. |
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1877 |
The idea for the phonograph comes to Thomas Edison while experimenting with a method for automatically recording telegraph messages. Edison becomes the first man in history to record his voice when he speaks the words "Mary had a little lamb" into the very first recording horn. Edison not only invents the first sound recording device, he invents the first recording device of any kind except for the still picture (which was invented in 1839). Edison files the first patent for a sound recording device. He even coins the word phonograph to describe his invention. |
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1900 |
E. Johnson starts selling gramophones and records; he introduces the wax-recorded disc. |
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1917 |
The first U.S. troops are sent to Europe in June. George M. Cohan is paid $25,000 for the WWI song Over There. The first Jazz record, called Livery Stable Blues, is recorded by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band. The first attempt to record a chorus of 2500 voices in the "acoustical" recording era is made in 1917 when the Billy Sunday Chorus in the New York Tabernacle makes a recording of America and Sail On. |
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1897 |
Eldridge Johnson produces an Improved Gramophone. Columbia establishes itself as the pioneer in making cylinders for use in slot machine parlors and penny arcades and for home entertainment. |
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1896 |
Edison organizes the National Phonograph Co. Regular production of wax cylinders under the Edison name begins. |
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1894 |
Berliner markets the first disc recordings that were not toys. Pathe brothers begin manufacturing phonographs and cylinders in France. The American Graphophone Co. introduces the first spring-driven talking machines for home use. The North American Phonograph Company goes bankrupt. |
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1891 |
Nickel-in-the-slot phonographs catch public fancy. Gianni Bettini begins selling cylinder recordings by famous opera singers. Kinetoscope, an early kind of motion picture projector, is developed by Thomas Edison. |
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