Today In History: Thomas Edison Invents the Phonograph

Then he turned the shat backward to its starting point, drew away the first diaphragm tube, adjusted the other in position to reproduce the sound, and once more turned the shaft handle forward. Out of the machine came forth what everyone recognized as the high-pitched voice of Thomas A. Edison himself, perfectly or "almost perfectly,"  reproduced, reciting the little Mother Goose rhyme. Kruesi turned pale and made some pious exclamation in German. All the onlookers were dumbfounded.

Edison declared afterward, "I was never so taken aback in all my life. Everyone was astonished. I was always afraid of things that worked the first time."

--Historical Capsule 105. Mary Had a Little Lamb-The Phonograph, from the Louis Forsdale Collection

Issued to American inventor Thomas Alvin Edison on February 19th, 1877,  the patent for the phonograph  significantly resulted from his work on two other inventions: the telegraph and the telephone.  The highly original phonograph, precursor to the music or record player, embossed or captured sound on a metal cylinder wrapped with tinfoil. With two diaphragm-and-needle units,  for recording and playback, one first spoke into a mouthpiece so that sound vibrations would indent onto the cylinder by a recording needle that moved up and down. Edison's first test successfully repeated back, to his amazement, the nursery rhyme "Mary had a little lamb" which he recited.

Available commercially from 1896, the phonograph allowed people to listen to music at home, rather than attending live concerts. From the phonograph evolved the battery operated and portable transistor radio (1954), the cassette player (1963) the CD player (1982), the MP3 player (1998), the IPod touch and IPhone series (2007), and ultimately Bluetooth low energy music players (2012) that allowed music lovers to stream music or "play lists" from their devices -- changing the way we consume media and experience the world around us.

The following articles are drawn from Proquest Historical Newspapers, which informs and inspires classroom teaching and learning.

• The Phonograph: A Machine Reproducing Words and Music. (1878, Jan 22). Courier-Journal (1869-1922) 
• Edison at 10, Began Career as Inventor: Regarded Dull in School Days at Milan, Ohio, He Early Showed His Genius. (1931, Oct 19). New York Times (1923-) 
• Edison, Electrical Wizard AveragedOne Invention a Week for 50 Most Active Years of Life.  (1931, Oct 19). Daily Boston Globe (1928-1960) 
• Thomas A. Edison Transformed Civilization by His Advances in Scientific Discovery. (1931, Oct 19). New York Herald Tribune (1926-1962) 
• Wilson, D. (1931, Oct 25). Life of Edison: Chapter VII A Phonograph Comes Into Being. The Atlanta Constitution (1881-1945) 
• Story of Phonograph Told in Publication. (1977, Sep 01). The Christian Science Monitor (1908-) 
• Yuknis, A. D. (1979, Oct 20). Voice of the People: A Thomas Edison Centennial. Chicago Tribune (1963-1996) 
• The Wizard Whose Inventions Revolutionalized Modern Living. (1980, Nov 08). Call and Post (1962-1982) 
• Carlson, E. (1989, Feb 07). Thomas Alva Edison's 'Invention Factory'. Wall Street Journal (1923-) 
• Kevles, B. (1995, Mar 21). Shining a Light on Edison's Private Life. Los Angeles Times (1923-1995) 

Tips:

• Adler, David A., John Wallner, and Alexandra. Wallner. A Picture Book of Thomas Alva Edison. New York: Holiday House, 1996. Curriculum ; TK140 .A627 1996
• Adler, David A., and Lyle Miller. Thomas A. Edison : Great Inventor. First edition. New York: Holiday House, 1990. Curriculum ; TK140.E3 A63 1990
• Dyer, Frank Lewis., and Thomas Commerford. Martin. Edison His Life and Inventions. Auckland: The Floating Press, 1910. e-book
• Forsdale, Louis. Historical Capsule 105. Mary Had a Little Lamb-The Phonograph, [1990]. Louis Forsdale Collection, Teachers College, Columbia University.
• Harvith, John., and Susan Edwards. Harvith. Edison, Musicians, and the Phonograph : A Century in Retrospect. New York: Greenwood Press, 1987. Stacks ; ML394 .E3 1987
•  McCormick, Abby. Evolution of Music Players,  on Sutori
• Reyners, Benjamin, Christelle Klein-Scholz, and minutes. Thomas Edison, le Magicien de Menlo Park: La Vie Lumineuse d’un Inventeur Insatiable. 1st ed. Vol. 3. Namur: Lemaitre Publishing, 2015. e-book

Images:

• Edison's First Phonograph, George Arents Collection, The New York Public Library Courtesy of New York Public Library
• Poster Image: Mr. Edison Has Perfected the Phonograph, Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound, The New York Public Library (1899), Courtesy of New York Public Library
• Thomas A. Edison. Phonograph. George Arents Collection, The New York Public Library Courtesy of New York Public Library

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