1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,920 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:11,039 Speaker 1: Heart Radio, Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:11,080 --> 00:00:13,960 Speaker 1: a show that believes there's no time like the present 4 00:00:14,280 --> 00:00:18,560 Speaker 1: to learn about the past. I'm Gabe Louizier, and today 5 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:22,520 Speaker 1: we're looking at the time when Thomas Edison invented away 6 00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:26,560 Speaker 1: to record and play back his own voice, thus paving 7 00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:38,800 Speaker 1: the way for the entire podcast industry. The day was 8 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:44,640 Speaker 1: December six, eighteen seventy seven. At his lab in Menlo Park, 9 00:00:44,720 --> 00:00:48,920 Speaker 1: New Jersey, inventor Thomas Edison made the first recording on 10 00:00:49,040 --> 00:00:54,560 Speaker 1: his newly completed phonograph when his aid John Crucy had 11 00:00:54,560 --> 00:00:58,279 Speaker 1: put the finishing touches on the machine. Edison christened it 12 00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:02,240 Speaker 1: by reciting the eighteen thirty nursery rhyme Mary had a 13 00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:06,600 Speaker 1: Little Lamb. The poem was probably on his mind since 14 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:10,240 Speaker 1: at the time his daughter Marian was four years old 15 00:01:10,520 --> 00:01:15,360 Speaker 1: and his eldest son was almost two. Edison's original recording 16 00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:19,640 Speaker 1: no longer exists, but the inventor actually recreated it for 17 00:01:19,720 --> 00:01:26,000 Speaker 1: the Inventions fiftieth anniversary in Take a listen. First, First, 18 00:01:26,040 --> 00:01:33,560 Speaker 1: I spoken, let pronograph a little poetry. Now, how the 19 00:01:33,640 --> 00:01:36,920 Speaker 1: little savage breach White? A school and every word that 20 00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:42,640 Speaker 1: went to lam. Thomas Edison is best remembered for his 21 00:01:42,680 --> 00:01:46,120 Speaker 1: invention of the electric light bulb, but his first brush 22 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:50,800 Speaker 1: with fame was two years earlier, when he debuted the phonograph. 23 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:54,000 Speaker 1: A marvel at the time, it was the first instrument 24 00:01:54,080 --> 00:01:58,840 Speaker 1: that could both record sound and reproduce it. Edison came 25 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:02,040 Speaker 1: up with the idea of the phonograph by chance while 26 00:02:02,080 --> 00:02:06,200 Speaker 1: working on improvements to the telegraph. He had recently found 27 00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:09,239 Speaker 1: success in the business market with a machine that could 28 00:02:09,320 --> 00:02:13,280 Speaker 1: record telegraph transmissions so that they could be decoded later. 29 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:17,520 Speaker 1: That way, an operator could step away from the telegraph 30 00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:21,440 Speaker 1: without fear of missing an incoming message. It was like 31 00:02:21,480 --> 00:02:25,280 Speaker 1: an early version of the answering machine, except instead of 32 00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:29,560 Speaker 1: recording sound onto tape, it recorded dots and dashes by 33 00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:34,080 Speaker 1: embossing them onto paper. It was this general concept of 34 00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:37,480 Speaker 1: recording that led Edison to wonder if the same could 35 00:02:37,520 --> 00:02:42,080 Speaker 1: be done with sound itself. The recording of sound wasn't 36 00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:46,480 Speaker 1: actually a challenge. Other inventors had already devised ways to 37 00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:52,760 Speaker 1: record sounds as written notation, similar to Edison's telegraph equipment. However, 38 00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:56,799 Speaker 1: playing back the recorded sound as something you could actually 39 00:02:56,919 --> 00:03:01,800 Speaker 1: hear that hadn't been done before. Edison typically took a 40 00:03:01,880 --> 00:03:05,800 Speaker 1: business like approach to his inventions, rarely making a move 41 00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:10,880 Speaker 1: without extensive planning and a clear practical end in mind. However, 42 00:03:11,160 --> 00:03:14,160 Speaker 1: he made an exception for his efforts to record and 43 00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:18,480 Speaker 1: play back sound, and in the end that meandering approach 44 00:03:18,639 --> 00:03:23,799 Speaker 1: pay it off. As Edison reflected years later, quote, when 45 00:03:23,840 --> 00:03:26,720 Speaker 1: I have fully decided that a result is worth getting, 46 00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:30,560 Speaker 1: I go about it and make trial after trial until 47 00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:34,680 Speaker 1: it comes. I never did anything worth doing by accident, 48 00:03:35,080 --> 00:03:39,040 Speaker 1: nor did any of my inventions come indirectly through accident, 49 00:03:39,720 --> 00:03:44,320 Speaker 1: except the phonograph. He began experimenting in the summer of 50 00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:48,560 Speaker 1: eighteen seventy seven. The first step was figuring out how 51 00:03:48,600 --> 00:03:51,320 Speaker 1: to record sound in such a way that it could 52 00:03:51,320 --> 00:03:55,640 Speaker 1: be reproduced. Later, Edison hit upon the idea of a 53 00:03:55,680 --> 00:04:00,520 Speaker 1: diaphragm attached to an embossing needle. When sound wave caused 54 00:04:00,520 --> 00:04:04,280 Speaker 1: the diaphragm to vibrate, the needle would etch its movements 55 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:07,360 Speaker 1: onto a piece of wax paper to make a recording. 56 00:04:08,080 --> 00:04:11,600 Speaker 1: With help from his assistance, Edison whipped up a prototype 57 00:04:11,640 --> 00:04:15,400 Speaker 1: and was satisfied with the result, noting that quote, the 58 00:04:15,560 --> 00:04:19,000 Speaker 1: vibrations are indented nicely, and there is no doubt that 59 00:04:19,080 --> 00:04:21,880 Speaker 1: I shall be able to store up and reproduce at 60 00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:27,719 Speaker 1: any future time the human voice perfectly. By August, Edison 61 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:31,960 Speaker 1: had dubbed his new invention the phonograph. For the next 62 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:35,159 Speaker 1: several months, he and his crew shifted their focus to 63 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:38,640 Speaker 1: the next part of the problem, finding the right recording 64 00:04:38,720 --> 00:04:44,040 Speaker 1: medium that would actually play back audible sound. Edison's notes 65 00:04:44,320 --> 00:04:47,440 Speaker 1: show that a host of options were considered, some of 66 00:04:47,440 --> 00:04:52,040 Speaker 1: which were actually built as prototypes. By late November, they 67 00:04:52,040 --> 00:04:56,640 Speaker 1: had settled on using a rotating brass cylinder wrapped with tinfoil. 68 00:04:57,400 --> 00:05:00,040 Speaker 1: The recording process was done through a piece of a 69 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:04,120 Speaker 1: telephone called a repeater, which acted as a microphone. The 70 00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:07,640 Speaker 1: sound waves of a person's voice would be recorded as 71 00:05:07,720 --> 00:05:11,880 Speaker 1: grooves which a needle would scratch into the foil wrapped cylinder. 72 00:05:12,600 --> 00:05:16,200 Speaker 1: Then to play back the sound, the needle would vibrate 73 00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:19,680 Speaker 1: as it retraced the grooves of the recorded sound waves. 74 00:05:20,680 --> 00:05:25,080 Speaker 1: The workmen tasked with completing the prototype was John Crucy, 75 00:05:25,120 --> 00:05:28,000 Speaker 1: but he didn't have much faith that the machine would work, 76 00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:31,960 Speaker 1: and to be fair, Edison didn't either, but there was 77 00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:35,880 Speaker 1: only one way to find out. On December six, the 78 00:05:35,960 --> 00:05:40,320 Speaker 1: phonograph was finally ready to be tested. Edison described the 79 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:44,480 Speaker 1: moment of truth, writing quote, it was finished, the foil 80 00:05:44,680 --> 00:05:48,000 Speaker 1: was put on. I then shouted, Mary had a little 81 00:05:48,080 --> 00:05:52,279 Speaker 1: lamb et cetera. I adjusted the reproducer, and the machine 82 00:05:52,360 --> 00:05:56,200 Speaker 1: reproduced it perfectly. I was never so taken aback in 83 00:05:56,279 --> 00:06:00,800 Speaker 1: my life. Everybody was astonished. I was ways afraid of 84 00:06:00,880 --> 00:06:05,080 Speaker 1: things that worked the first time. Long experience proved that 85 00:06:05,160 --> 00:06:08,719 Speaker 1: there were great drawbacks found generally before they could be 86 00:06:08,760 --> 00:06:12,599 Speaker 1: got commercial. But here was something there was no doubt of. 87 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:17,839 Speaker 1: The very next day, Edison paid an unannounced visit to 88 00:06:17,920 --> 00:06:22,800 Speaker 1: the editors of Scientific American magazine in New York. There 89 00:06:23,080 --> 00:06:26,240 Speaker 1: he gave a demonstration of his new invention, and the 90 00:06:26,320 --> 00:06:29,920 Speaker 1: spectators were just as astonished to see it worked as 91 00:06:29,960 --> 00:06:34,120 Speaker 1: the inventor had been. The publication later recounted the event, 92 00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:39,240 Speaker 1: saying quote, Mr Thomas A. Edison recently came into this 93 00:06:39,360 --> 00:06:43,400 Speaker 1: office and placed before the editors a small, simple machine, 94 00:06:43,720 --> 00:06:48,480 Speaker 1: about which very few preliminary remarks were offered. The visitor, 95 00:06:48,760 --> 00:06:52,839 Speaker 1: without any ceremony whatever, turned the crank, and, to the 96 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:57,800 Speaker 1: astonishment of all present, the machine said, good morning, how 97 00:06:57,839 --> 00:07:01,200 Speaker 1: do you do? How do you like the phonograph. The 98 00:07:01,279 --> 00:07:05,240 Speaker 1: machine thus spoke for itself and made known the fact 99 00:07:05,279 --> 00:07:09,239 Speaker 1: that it was the phonograph. These remarks were not only 100 00:07:09,320 --> 00:07:13,120 Speaker 1: perfectly audible to ourselves, but to a dozen or more 101 00:07:13,240 --> 00:07:16,920 Speaker 1: persons gathered around, and they were produced by the aid 102 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:22,240 Speaker 1: of no other mechanism than the simple little contrivance. With 103 00:07:22,280 --> 00:07:27,000 Speaker 1: a working prototype and successful demonstration, Edison filed for a 104 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:30,880 Speaker 1: patent on the phonograph in late eighteen seventy seven and 105 00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:35,240 Speaker 1: received it in February of the next year. Interestingly, when 106 00:07:35,240 --> 00:07:39,000 Speaker 1: he began to market the machine, he presented it primarily 107 00:07:39,120 --> 00:07:43,640 Speaker 1: as an office tool for dictating letters. He also envisioned 108 00:07:43,680 --> 00:07:47,240 Speaker 1: it as an alternative to the recently invented telephone, which 109 00:07:47,280 --> 00:07:50,600 Speaker 1: was still too expensive for most people to own. The 110 00:07:50,760 --> 00:07:54,240 Speaker 1: idea was that people could go to a store, record 111 00:07:54,280 --> 00:07:57,520 Speaker 1: a message on a phonographic tube, and then mail it 112 00:07:57,560 --> 00:08:00,240 Speaker 1: to a friend or relative to be played by on 113 00:08:00,240 --> 00:08:03,720 Speaker 1: a different machine. It wouldn't have been as fast or 114 00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:07,720 Speaker 1: convenient as simply calling someone up, but it would provide 115 00:08:07,720 --> 00:08:11,360 Speaker 1: a permanent recording that could be replayed as many times 116 00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:15,240 Speaker 1: as you wanted. A little further down on Edison's list 117 00:08:15,280 --> 00:08:19,400 Speaker 1: of potential uses was the recording of music. He got 118 00:08:19,440 --> 00:08:22,640 Speaker 1: a little sidetracked by the light bulb, but he eventually 119 00:08:22,680 --> 00:08:27,280 Speaker 1: made his way into the music business. In eight Edison 120 00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:31,640 Speaker 1: released what he called the perfected Phonograph. This new and 121 00:08:31,720 --> 00:08:36,560 Speaker 1: improved model used recordings etched onto wax cylinders instead of 122 00:08:36,559 --> 00:08:40,560 Speaker 1: the old brass and foil ones. The change improved sound 123 00:08:40,679 --> 00:08:45,280 Speaker 1: quality and reduced wear and tear during playback. The earliest 124 00:08:45,320 --> 00:08:49,280 Speaker 1: of these cylinders could only hold about two minutes of content, 125 00:08:49,760 --> 00:08:53,960 Speaker 1: but that was long enough. Edison started selling recordings of 126 00:08:54,080 --> 00:08:59,280 Speaker 1: music and recitations of speeches and poems, is essentially starting 127 00:08:59,280 --> 00:09:03,600 Speaker 1: the world's forst record company. Of course, it wasn't long 128 00:09:03,679 --> 00:09:09,400 Speaker 1: before competitors began producing their own cylinders. Gradually, this competition 129 00:09:09,559 --> 00:09:12,439 Speaker 1: led to further innovation, such as being able to make 130 00:09:12,480 --> 00:09:17,400 Speaker 1: recordings longer than two minutes. Another limitation of using wax 131 00:09:17,480 --> 00:09:20,560 Speaker 1: cylinders was that each one had to be recorded from 132 00:09:20,640 --> 00:09:25,240 Speaker 1: live music. That made mass production difficult, as there was 133 00:09:25,280 --> 00:09:28,600 Speaker 1: no way to scale the recording process beyond the number 134 00:09:28,640 --> 00:09:31,880 Speaker 1: of phonographs you could fit into a room with a musician. 135 00:09:32,840 --> 00:09:37,120 Speaker 1: That ultimately changed when the recording industry switched over to disks, 136 00:09:37,440 --> 00:09:40,720 Speaker 1: which could be stamped to create as many copies as needed. 137 00:09:41,559 --> 00:09:45,400 Speaker 1: As for Edison, his company also ditched the cylinders and 138 00:09:45,559 --> 00:09:50,400 Speaker 1: remained profitable well into the nineteen twenties. However, before the 139 00:09:50,440 --> 00:09:54,600 Speaker 1: decade was out, the radio made its debut, and Edison 140 00:09:54,640 --> 00:09:57,680 Speaker 1: saw the writing on the wall. He shut down his 141 00:09:57,760 --> 00:10:01,839 Speaker 1: recording company in ninety nine line and stepped away from 142 00:10:01,840 --> 00:10:06,920 Speaker 1: the industry he himself had invented. Edison's cylinders may have 143 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:10,960 Speaker 1: been supplanted by disks, which have themselves given way to 144 00:10:11,120 --> 00:10:15,240 Speaker 1: digital files, but each new medium still hinges on that 145 00:10:15,440 --> 00:10:19,760 Speaker 1: same absurd premise that he stumbled on over a century ago, 146 00:10:20,440 --> 00:10:24,080 Speaker 1: that it's possible to speak into a machine and then 147 00:10:24,160 --> 00:10:31,040 Speaker 1: have the machine speak back. What a concept. I'm Gabe 148 00:10:31,040 --> 00:10:35,080 Speaker 1: Louzier and hopefully you now know a little more about 149 00:10:35,200 --> 00:10:39,440 Speaker 1: history today than you did yesterday. You can learn even 150 00:10:39,440 --> 00:10:42,880 Speaker 1: more about history by following us on Twitter, Facebook, and 151 00:10:42,960 --> 00:10:47,280 Speaker 1: Instagram at t d I HC Show, and if you 152 00:10:47,280 --> 00:10:50,480 Speaker 1: have any comments or suggestions, you can only send them 153 00:10:50,480 --> 00:10:55,120 Speaker 1: my way at this day at I heart media dot com. 154 00:10:55,120 --> 00:10:58,120 Speaker 1: Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing the show, and thank 155 00:10:58,160 --> 00:11:01,280 Speaker 1: you for listening. I'll see you back here again tomorrow 156 00:11:01,640 --> 00:11:14,480 Speaker 1: for another day in History class. For more podcasts from 157 00:11:14,480 --> 00:11:17,280 Speaker 1: my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, 158 00:11:17,360 --> 00:11:19,080 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.