The Story of Communication:
Recording—Timeline
1821: In England, Charles Wheatstone reproduces sound.
1827: Wheatstone constructs a kind of microphone and an image
scanner.
1857: In France, Scott’s phonautograph is a forerunner
of the phonograph.
1859: The telautograph is another precursor to recorded sound.
1877: Emile Berliner invents the microphone. So does David
Hughes.
1878: Edison invents a better microphone.
1863: Early phonograph: a machine that records what a piano
plays.
1869: John Hyatt’s invention of celluloid will lead to
phonograph records, telephones.
1877: In France, Charles Cros invents the phonograph.
1877: In America, Edison also invents the phonograph.
1878: Thomas Edison gets a patent for a phonograph talking
doll.
1881: Bell and Tainter’s graphophone has better sound
than Edison phonograph.
1886: Sapphire stylus improves sound.
1887: Berliner gets music from a flat “gramophone” disc
stamped out by machine.
1888: Edison’s phonograph is manufactured for sale to
the public.
1888: Oberlin Smith sets forth theory of magnetic recording.
1889: Eleven years after getting patent, Edison mass produces
a phonograph doll.
1889: William Dickson reportedly synchronizes motion pictures
with phonograph.
1889: Coinoperated phonographs go into bars, arcades, the first
jukeboxes.
1890: First juke box: a cylinder phonograph with four listening
tubes.
1894: Emile Berliner sells 1,000 gramophones, 25,000 records.
1895: Artist Francis Barraud paints His Master’s Voice,
with Nipper listening.
1896: Hard resinous shellac phonograph discs replace hard rubber.
1897: Eldridge Johnson patents an improved, inexpensive disc
gramophone.
1898: Sound recorded magnetically on wire by Valdemar Poulsen
of Denmark.
1900: Visitors to Paris Exposition see huge Muliplex Grand
Graphophone.
1900: Phonograph cylinders continue to outsell discs by wide
margin.
1900: Phonograph records add paper labels.
1900: Eldridge Johnson produces doublesided phonograph records.
1901: Recordings of classical music go on sale, first in Russia.
1901: Communication improves when the hearing aid is patented.
1902: In Europe, 10inch “Red Seal” records feature
tenor Enrico Caruso.
1903: An entire Verdi opera is recorded on 40 single-side discs.
1906: Phonograph records may be 6 2/3”, 7”, 8”,
10”, 11” 12”, 13 3/4”, or 14” wide.
1906: In Chicago, the jukebox playing flat records, is manufactured.
1906: The Victrola turns the phonograph into furniture.
1906: Phonograph records become thinner, less scratchy.
1907: De Forest broadcasts music from phonograph records.
1910: Dance music is recorded.
1912: Edison records music on cylinders with a diamond stylus
for better acoustics.
1913: Radio sound is recorded on cylinders.
1913: The portable phonograph is manufactured.
1913: Billboard magazine publishes its first list of most popular
songs.
1913: Records are even thinner (1/4inch) with Bakelite.
1913: Edison starts making discs; cylinder recordings are on
the way out.
1914: ASCAP founded to protect music copyrights.
1915: The 78 rpm record.
1916: The electric loudspeaker.
1917: Condenser microphone aids broadcasting, recording.
1918: Two million phonographs, 100 million records, are sold
annually.
1918: Valdemar Poulsen’s wire recording patent expires;
Germans improve it.
1919: Americans spend more on records than on books, musical
instruments.
1921: Public address amplifiers, loudspeakers are used in military
ceremony.
1922: Muzak, developed by George Squier.
1922: Singers desert phonograph horn mouths for acoustic studios.
1924: All-electric recorder and phonograph are built.
1925: Electrical recordings go on sale.
1926: The first featherweight phonograph stylus.
1927: Negative feedback makes hi-fi possible.
1928: In Germany, Fritz Pfleumer creates audiotape: magnetic
powder on paper, film.
1929: Phonograph manufacturers phase out handcranked models.
1931: “Hill-and-dale” vertical phonograph record
introduced.
1931: Bell Labs experiment with stereo recording.
1931: Germany manufactures audio tape recorders.
1934: Wurlitzer and Seeburg make eye-catching jukeboxes.
1934: “High fidelity” records are advertised.
1935: Martin Block’s Make Believe Ballroom introduces
disc jockeys.
1935: In Nazi Germany, Magnetophone recorder are developed.
1935: Tweeter and woofer reduce loudspeaker distortion.
1935: Twoway speaker system becomes a standard for cinemas.
1936: BASF/AEG audio tape recording of a live concert.
1936: In England a symphony concert is tape recorded.
1937: A recording, the Hindenburg crash, is the first coast-to-coast
recording.
1939: AC bias control improves tape recorded sound.
1939: The wire recorder is invented in the U.S.
1939: Multiphone expands jukebox choices from 20 tunes to 170
using phone lines.
1940: For phonograph recording, a single-groove stereo system
is developed.
1943: Wire recorders help Allied radio journalists cover WW
II.
1945: Capt. John Mullin “liberates” two German
tape recorders; starts U.S. industry.
1946: Jukeboxes go into mass production.
1948: LP (“long playing”) record runs 25 minutes
per side; old record: 4 minutes.
1949: RCA offers the 45 rpm record.
1949: The McIntosh amplifier improves home listening.
1949: The acoustic suspension loudspeaker.
1951: Disc jockey Alan Freed introduces the term rock ‘n’ roll.
1951: Bing Crosby’s company tests videotape recording.
1951: The Nagra tape recorder adds precision, quality sound
to silent cameras.
1952: Acoustic suspension loudspeaker invented by Henry Kloss.
1954: Prerecorded openreel stereo tapes go on sale, $12.95,
from RCA Victor.
1955: First rock ‘n’ roll song to top the chart:
Bill Haley’s “Rock Around the Clock.”
1956: Ampex builds a practical videotape recorder for TV networks,
stations.
1958: Videotape delivers color.
1958: Live television drama is replaced by videotaped shows.
1958: Stereo LP records go on sale.
1959: The Grammy Awards, starting with 1958 music.
1961: Sony markets a helical scan videotape recorder.
1963: From Phillips of Holland comes the audio cassette.
1959: From Ampex, a mobile videotape recorder.
1963: Sony offers an openreel videotape recorder for the home,
$995.
1965: Ford offers 8-track tape players on next year’s
model cars.
1965: Cartridge audiotapes go on sale; will continue for a
few years.
1965: Westinghouse Phonovid stores TV sound, pictures on phonograph
records.
1967: Pre-recorded movies on videotape sold for home TV sets.
1967: Dolby eliminates audio hiss.
1968: TV photographers lug twoinchtape portable videotape recorders.
1969: RCA SelectaVision plays prerecorded tape cassettes, but
cannot record.
1969: Sony brings out 3/4” U-Matic, first videotape cassette
editing system.
1969: Audio music tapes sold with Dolby Noise Reduction.
1970: Mini-Moog synthesizers sold to touring rock bands.
1970: In Germany, a videodisc is demonstrated.
1972: Sony sells a videotape system for the home, the Betamax.
1972: European manufacturers (Decca, Philips, AEG) bring out
the video disc.
1972: The Phillips laserdisc; it plays but can’t record.
1972: Sony’s Port-a-Pak, a much more portable video recorder.
1972: Pong, first home video game, in first game console, the
Magnavox Odyssey.
1973: Non-compatible video player formats cause several manufacturers
to fail.
1974: Arcade video game Tank uses ROM chips to store graphics.
1974: Dolby Labs demonstrates Surround Sound and Pro Logic
for movies.
1975: Gunfight, an arcade video game for two players, uses
a micrprocessor.
1975: Philips demonstrates an optical videodisc system.
1976: Sony’s Betamax and JVC’s VHS battle for home
market. Sony will lose.
1976: Dolby stereo goes into movie theaters.
1977: Disco music becomes the rage.
1977: Atari introduces a programmable home video game system
in a cartridge.
1978: Atari’s arcade game Football introduces video sports.
1978: RCA introduces the SelectaVision video disc.
1979: From Holland comes the digital videodisc read by laser.
1979: Sony’s Betascan can show pictures in fast forward
mode.
1979: Sony Walkman tape player starts a new way to listen.
1980: 1% of U.S. homes have VCRs.
1980: Sony introduces the consumer camcorder.
1980: Space Invaders spreads home video game popularity.
1980: Atari’s Battlezone introduces 3-D arcade game.
Army will adapt for training.
1980: Berzerk introduces arcade video games that speak.
1980: Pac-Man.
1981: Hologram technology improves, now in video games.
1982: Sony of Japan and Philips of the Netherlands bring out
the compact disc.
1983: Audio music cassettes outsell LP records.
1983: CDs (compact discs, not certificates of deposit) go on
sale.
1983: Laser disc technology used in Dragon’s Lair, an
arcade video game.
1984: Portable compact disc player arrives.
1984: CD-ROM disc can hold 270,000 typewritten pages of data.
1985: U.S. household ownership of VCRs rises rapidly to 20%.
1985: New videotape formats: 8 mm and VHS-C.
1985: “Live Aid” for Africa shows the power of
mass media, rock music.
1985: Nintendo enters home video game market.
1986: An encyclopedia, the American, is put on CD-ROM.
1986: Digital Audio Tape (DAT).
1986: International standards set for audio, video, digital
recording.
1987: Dolby Pro Logic speakers are made for the home market.
1988: The Digital Disc Playback (DDP) system uses uncompressed
digital sound.
1988: Sony introduces the Pocket Discman.
1988: CDs now outsell vinyl records.
1989: New Sony videotape format: Hi8.
1990: The Video Toaster, a low cost video effects tool.
1990: By now, most 2-inch videotape machines are gone.
1990: Videodisc returns in a new laser form.
1991: 3 out of 4 U.S. homes own VCRs; fastest selling home
appliance in history.
1991: More than 4 billion videocassette tape rentals in U.S.
alone.
1991: Philips introduces the Compact Disc Interactive (CD-I)
player for music, video.
1991: Recordable compact disc drivers, CD-Rs, reach the market.
1991: Sega’s arcade game Time Traveler comes close to
true holograms.
games.
1992: Compact disc music sales pass cassette tapes.
1992: The Sony Mini-Disc, a recordable magnetooptical disc.
1992: Rodney King beating videotape shot by amateur adds “visualanties” to
lexicon.
1995: Sony Playstation and Sega Saturn use 32bit systems for
home video 1995: Experimental CD-ROM disc can carry a full-length
feature film.
1995: In Cleveland, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum opens.
1997: DVDs go on sale.
1998: Music industry angry as fans download MP3 sound files
for free.
1999: Jon Johansen, 15, of Norway manages to break movie DVD
copy protection.
1999: Free downloading of music via the Internet increases
sharply. Millions do it.
2000: More than 3 million blank, recordable CDs are sold monthly.
2000: Court limits Napster’s Internet file-sharing of
music.
2000: Sony Playstation 2 uses DVD for home video games.
2001: Americans spend more on electronic games than on movie
tickets.
2002: DVD burners are popular for downloading movies.
2002: Nearly 21,000 DVD titles in circulation, 7,000 introduced
this year.
2002: DVD sales pass VCR sales; 40+ million U.S. homes have
DVD.
2003: Apple offers iTunes at 99 cents each. Other companies
follow.
2004: The iPod holds 10,000 tunes, but fits into a shirt pocket.
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Resources for Recording
