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First Discovery
Johann H. Schulze, a German physicist, discovers that silver salts turn dark when exposed to light. -
Period: to
History of Film
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Silver Salts
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. -
First Photograph
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. -
First Method
Louis Daguerre, a French inventor, develops the first practical method of photography by placing a sheet of silver-coated copper treated with crystals of iodine inside a camera and exposing it to an image for 5 to 40 minutes. -
Lense Development
Josef M. Petzval, a Hungarian mathematician, develops lenses for portrait and landscape photographs, which produce sharper images and admit more light, thus reducing exposure time. -
Dry-Plate Process
Richard L. Maddox, a British physician, invents the "dry-plate" process, using an emulsion of gelatin, so that photographers did not have to process the pictures immediately. By the late 1870s, exposure time had been reduced to 1/25th of a second. -
First Motion Photographs
British photographer Eadweard Muybridge takes the first successful photographs of motion, showing how people and animals move. -
Kodak Camera
George Eastman introduces the lightweight, inexpensive Kodak camera, using film wound on rollers. -
Kinetoscope
Thomas Edison and W.K. Dickson develop the Kinetoscope, a peep-show device in which film is moved past a light. -
Projection
Two French brothers, Louis and August Lumiere patent a combination movie camera and projector, capable of projecting an image that can be seen by many people. In Paris, they present the first commercial exhibition of projected motion pictures. -
First Film Exchange
Henry Miles sets up the first film exchange, allowing exhibitors to rent films instead of buying them. -
Nickelodeon
Harry Davis opens the first nickelodeon in Pittsburgh. -
First Animation
First animated cartoon produced. -
Publicity
Studios begin distributing publicity stills of actors and actresses. -
First Major Studio
Carl Laemmle organizes Universal Pictures, which will become the first major studio. -
Sound Experimentation
Lee DeForrest demonstrates a method for recording sound on the edge of a film strip. -
First Inflight Movie
The first inflight movie, a black & white, silent film called The Lost World, is shown in a WWI converted Handley-Page bomber during a 30-minute flight near London. -
Talkies
Paramount becomes the first studio to announce that it will only produce "talkies." -
Acadamy Awards
The first Academy Awards are announced, with the award for the best picture in 1927 going to Wings. -
Drive-In
The first drive-in movie theater opens in New Jersey. -
Technicolor Film
Technicolor introduces a three-color process in the film Becky Sharp. -
Snow White
Walt Disney's first full-length animated feature, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, is released. -
TV
The first commercial television station begins broadcasting. -
Contracts
Seven-year contracts with actors are replaced by single-picture or multi-picture contracts. -
James Dean
James Dean dies in a car crash at the age of 26. -
The Blob
The Blob and The Fly are released. -
Smell-O-Vision
A movie features "Smell-O-Vision." -
Writers Guild and Communism
The Writers Guild abandons a 1954 requirement that members not be Communists. -
HBO
HBO begins on cable television. -
First Female Studio Executive
Sherry Lansing becomes the first woman to head a major studio when she becomes president of 20th Century Fox. -
Cable TV
Half of U.S. homes receive cable television. -
VCR
76% of homes have VCR's. -
Titanic
Titanic, which premiered in 1997, becomes the highest grossing film in Hollywood history, earning $580 million domestically.
