-
Johann H. Schulze
Johann H. Schulze, a German physicist, discovers that silver salts turn dark when exposed to light. -
Period: to
Carl Scheele
Carl Scheele, a Swedish chemist, shows that the changes in the color of the silver salts could be made permanent through the use of chemicals -
Thaumatrope
the invention of the Thaumatrope (the earliest version of an optical illusion toy that exploited the concept of "persistence of vision" first presented by Peter Mark Roget in a scholarly article) by an English doctor named Dr. John Ayrton Paris -
Nicephore Niepce
A French inventor, Nicephore Niepce, produces a permanent image by coating a metal plate with a light-sensitive chemical and exposing the plate to light for about eight hours -
Praxinscope
the invention of the Praxinoscope by French inventor Charles Emile Reynaud - it was a 'projector' device with a mirrored drum that created the illusion of movement with picture strips, a refined version of the Zoetrope with mirrors at the center of the drum instead of slots; public demonstrations of the Praxinoscope were made by the early 1890s with screenings of 15 minute 'movies' at his Parisian Theatre Optique -
Edweard Muybridge
British photographer Eadweard Muybridge takes the first successful photographs of motion, showing how people and animals move. -
Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison and W.K. Dickson develop the Kinetoscope, a peep-show device in which film is moved past a light. -
Henry Miles
Henry Miles sets up the first film exchange, allowing exhibitors to rent films instead of buying them. -
Cooper Hewitt
Cooper Hewitt mercury lamps make it practical to shoot films indoors without sunlight -
Harry Davis
Harry Davis opens the first nickelodeon in Pittsburgh. -
First Cartoon animated
The first animated cartoon is produced. -
Movie Theaters
There are about 9,000 movie theaters in the United States. The typical film is only a single reel long, or ten- to twelve minutes in length, and the performers were anonymous. -
20th century fox, Warner Bros., The War Production Board
20th Century Fox begins distributing pinups of actress Betty Grable.
Warner Bros. releases Mission to Moscow.
The War Production Board orders theaters to dim their marquee lights at 10 p.m. -
See How They Run
The first made-for-TV film, See How They Run, is broadcast on NBC. -
Blair Witch Project
The Blair Witch Project, which cost $30,000 to make, grosses $125 million, making it the most profitable film in Hollywood history. -
"Peanuts"
The last original "Peanuts" comic strip appeared in newspapers one day after its creator Charles M. Schulz died of colon cancer. The popular comic strip debuted 50 years earlier.
