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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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1878 |
The first patents are issued to Edison in January 1878, covering both disk and cylinder recording. The Edison "Speaking Phonograph Company" is formed. Edison gets so absorbed in perfecting the electric light that he gives up his work on the phonograph. |
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1880 |
Edison introduces the Wax Cylinder for sound recording. |
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1881 |
Chichester Bell and Charles Summer Tainter, two Washington experimenters, develop an instrument that plays wax cylinders instead of tinfoil. Bell's brother, Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, helps them with there research. |
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1886 |
Edison resumes work on the phonograph. Bell and Tainter patent the "Graphophon". |
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1887 |
The American Graphophone Company is organized. Emile Berliner develops the first disc record. He also patents a so-called Matrix system for making unlimited copies of the disc from a "master". |
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1888 |
Edison devises his own improved phonograph. The first recordings of celebrity voices are made on an experimental basis at Edison's lab in West Orange, NJ. The North American Phonograph Company is organized. The first classical music is recorded. Because the quality is so bad, many classical musicians are loathe to record fearing their reputation will be hurt. "Gang" recording becomes the commercial reproduction technique of choice wherein a group of individual machines are "ganged" together to make multiple record copies. The average output of these machines is 200 copies per day. Emil Berliner produces his so-called "Master Disc", a 125mm (5 inch) rubber disc recorded on one side only, with the song lyric printed on the reverse side. Later, the rubber is replaced with shellac made from crushed Malaysian Beetles. |
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1889 |
The Columbia Phonograph Company is incorporated. The first commercial gramophones and records are manufactured in Germany. The first coin operated phonograph are installed at the Palais Royal Saloon in San Francisco. |
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1890 |
Edison records small quantities of cylinders known at first as "phonograms," which were sold by North American Phonograph Co. The first recording list consists entirely of brass bands, parlor orchestras, instrumental numbers, and vocal quartets. German born Emile Berliner produces his "gramophone" using flat discs. The first commercial disc recordings are sold by Emile Berliner in Europe. The first commercial cylinder recordings are put on sale in the US. |
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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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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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1896 |
Edison organizes the National Phonograph Co. Regular production of wax cylinders under the Edison name begins. |
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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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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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1900 |
E. Johnson starts selling gramophones and records; he introduces the wax-recorded disc. |
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1901 |
The Victor Talking Machine Company is incorporated. Edison and Columbia make the first mass produced hard-wax molded cylinders. The Gramophone Co. issues the first Red Label celebrity discs in Russia. |
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1902 |
Enrico Caruso records for the Gramophone Co. in Milan, Italy. Columbia issues disc records. |
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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1912 |
Edison introduces the plastic Blue Amberol cylinder. Columbia discontinues manufacture of cylinders. |
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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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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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1915 |
Americans' hostilities toward the Germans began to build after a German submarine sinks the English passenger ship The Lusitania, killing 1,198 persons, including 114 Americans and 64 babies. A recording is made about this event. |
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1916 |
The Dixieland Jass (sic!) Band tours the U.S. Today it’s called Jazz. |
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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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1918 |
Edison Records releases a popular series of novelty recordings, including mimic John Orren's impersonations of an orchestra tuning up, chickens singing. and a saw mill. World War One ends in the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. The war profoundly influences popular music and record sales. Postwar phonograph sales begin to boom. |
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1919 |
Experiments on electrical recording and reproduction begin. Congress overrides President Wilson's veto and passes the National Prohibition Act. Prohibition influences popular songs. |
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1920 |
The broadcasting industry is born when the Westinghouse Company launches radio station KDKA in Pittsburgh. KDKA broadcasts Warren Harding's defeat of James Cox in the presidential election. Enrico Caruso makes his last public appearance at the New York Metropolitan Opera's production of La Juive. |
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1921 |
Caruso dies. The government begins licensing radio stations and regulating the frequency bands on which they broadcast. The first sponsored orchestral radio program is The A&P Gypsies. Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake appear on Broadway in the Shuffle Along show, the first show produced by blacks. It has an all black cast that includes Josephine Baker and Florence Mills. Harry Pace forms for the Black Swan Records Corporation in Harlem, New York. |
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1922 |
Radio is booms, phonograph sales decline in the US. The American Telephone & Telegraph Corporation sets up the first radio network for the Bond Club of Chicago. Twenty radio stations along the circuit are able to contribute a section to the program, which is broadcast from New York to Chicago. |
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1923 |
James P. Johnson's Running Wild starts a Charleston dance craze that kicks off a wild party craze. Because of the Charleston, the decade comes to be known as The Roaring '20s. King Oliver's Creole Jazz band cuts 37 recordings with Louis Armstrong. Columbia goes into receivership, a symptom of the drop in phonograph sales. The Gramophone, the first magazine for record collectors, begins publication in England. The Westinghouse Company successfully broadcasts on the shortwave radio band, resulting in confirmed reception in Europe and Africa. |
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1924 |
Bell Laboratories perfects a system of electrical recording. The first electrically recorded disc is introduced by Marsh Laboratories, Inc. on the Autograph label. 2˝-million radios are in American households, where only 500 receivers existed in 1920, only four years before. Louis Armstrong arrives in New York, joins Fletcher Henderson’s band playing at the Roseland Ballroom. |
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1925 |
Victor and Columbia produce their first electrically recorded discs. Brunswick markets the first all-electric phonograph, called the Panatrope. German Shepherd Rin Tin Tin stars in the year's most popular silent movie. In addition to the traditional live piano accompaniment, the movie is accompanied by a phonograph recording of the dog star's bark. Amplifying systems come into use and for the first time it becomes practical for singers to croon melodies instead of belt them into the back row, the aural equivalent of a movie close-up. As a result, the "crooner" is born. In classical music, with amplification it now becomes possible to record a full symphony orchestra. As a result, classical music is recorded, record sales increase, and classical audience sizes increase. With more classical music on records, a classical music lover can pick and choose the music he wants to hear. Louis Armstrong starts recording with his "Hot Five" and "Hot Seven" musical groups. |
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1926 |
Edison brings out the 40 minute playing record. Victor sells out to two banking houses, Eldridge Johnson retires. Victor introduced the Orthophonic phonograph and Orthophonic records. Columbia introduces there Viva-tonal phonograph. The first electric pick-ups capable of sound amplification are sold. The National Broadcasting Company is launched. The NBC Coast-to-Coast network is established. Home radio receivers become ubiquitous. Dance bands broadcast from hotels, dance halls and radio studios, and become the main fare of radio stations. Don Juan, a Vitaphone production starring John Barrymore, becomes the first "talking" motion picture. It is shown at the Warner Theater in New York on August 6, 1926. The sound source is not on the film, but on synchronized phonograph records. Now great artists can be seen as well as heard on the screen. |
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1927 |
The Columbia Broadcasting System is launched. The Tunney-Dempsey fight on September 27, 1927 becomes the first heavy-weight championship fight to be recorded on disc. The Federal Radio Commission is organized to stop signal and frequency wars between radio stations. The FRC assigns a specific spot on the dial to each station, specifies a maximum broadcast signal strength. and orders nearly a third of the country's 1,100 stations off the air. The first full-length "talkie," The Jazz Singer, starring Al Jolson, shows in movie houses. The first all-electric jukeboxes are introduced. |
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1928 |
RCA purchases Victor. Mickey Mouse appears in the first animated cartoon to use sound, called Steamboat Willie. |
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1929 |
Edison stops manufacturing phonographs and records. RCA converts most of Victor's phonograph record plant production to radio production. Amos 'n' Andy debut on network radio. |
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1930 |
The phonograph and record business in the US all but collapses. CBS and NBC begin regular live classical music radio broadcasts. |
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1931 |
Victor introduces the 33-1/3 rpm LP record. The first film and phonograph machines are demonstrated for home use. The Star-Spangled Banner is chosen over America The Beautiful as the U.S. national anthem. |
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1932 |
Caruso Records originally recorded on acoustic masters are transcribed to records made for electrical reproduction. Columbia issues the first Long-Playing record. Victor introduces Bluebird records. The British Regal Company records The Mammoth Fair Organ, claiming that, "The Regal were the first to dare record a Fair Organ." Columnist Walter Winchell begins regular news and commentary radio broadcasts. Depression era songs that bemoan poverty become hits, such as In A Shanty In Old Shanty Town and Brother, Can You Spare Me A Dime? |
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1934 |
First Decca records appear in the U.S. RCA manufactures an inexpensive record playing attachment for radios. |
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1935 |
Billy Costello, the voice of Popeye in the animated shorts, produces a hit with the phonograph recording of the cartoon's theme song, I'm Popeye The Sailor Man. |
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1936 |
So-called Swing Music succeeds Jazz. The first pop music chart based on record sales is published by Billboard Magazine. Increasing popularity of jukeboxes creates an upturn in the U.S. record business. Composer Arturo Toscanini becomes conductor of the NBC Symphony Orchestra. |
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1937 |
Brunswick makes an historic recording of King Edward's farewell speech renouncing the British throne. Benny Goodman is labeled "the king of swing" as his big band sound becomes the rage among teenagers. |
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1938 |
The CBS broadcast of Orson Welles' production of War Of The Worlds causes widespread panic and a handful of suicides. The broadcast is staged as a music program interrupted by bulletins of a Martian invasion and a takeover of the Earth. |
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1939 |
The National Association of Performing Artists is founded. The Blue Note label is launched. Edwin Armstrong conducts preliminary tests of a new type of audio radio signal called Frequency Modulation, or FM. Continuing daytime dramas become popular on radio. They are called "soap operas" because sponsor's commercials were placed within their storylines. |
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1940 |
The US Court rules that radio stations may play records without their manufacturer's permission. Bell Telephone Laboratories develops stereophonic recording. NBC conducts the first telecast of an opera in New York. |
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1942 |
Starting August 1, 1942, James Petrillo of the American Federation of Musicians imposes a nationwide musician's strike during wartime, preventing recording and broadcasting companies from producing music accompanied by instruments, depriving military personnel and civilians alike. So-called V-Disks (V for Victory) are exempted in an effort to help the war effort, but V-Disks can only be played for troops. |
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1944 |
The American Federation of Musicians recording ban ends November 11, 1944. The English Decca label issues the first records made by high a fidelity technique. Glenn Miller's plane disappears on a flight from Paris to London on Christmas Eve. Johnny Marvin, popular singer of the 20s and 30s dies. |
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1945 |
Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel opens on Broadway, marking a new era in the American musical stage. Big band swing becomes popular. Zoot suits make a brief appearance, reflecting the spirit of the times. The Federal Communications Commission allocates channels 2 through 13 for commercial television. Channel 1 is designated "experimental". Irish tenor John McCormack dies. |
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1948 |
Columbia Records introduces the 33-1/3 rpm LP microgroove record at New York's Waldorf Astoria Hotel. The new technology features 25 minutes of music per side, compared to four minutes per side delivered by the 78 rpm record, the previous standard. LP stands for long playing, so named because it really does “play long.” |
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1949 |
RCA Victor introduces the 7-inch 45 rpm record. Small independent record companies begin to proliferate in the US. The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Oklahoma becomes the first gold LP record.! |
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1950 |
RCA Victor announces the manufacture of LP records. Sales of 78 rpm records decline. |
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