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1889
Thomas Edison enlists the help of William Dickson to build the first motion picture camera. It was later called a Kinetograph. -
1894
Edison Co. founds the first motion picture studio. It was a a Kinetograph nicknamed the "Black Maria", that name was slang for a police van. People could watch movies for 25 cents -
1895
Auguste and Louis Lumière hold the first private screening. They invent the Cinématograph, a combination of the camera and the projector. They said image of an oncoming train caused a stampede. -
1903
Edison Co. mechanic Edwin Porter turns cameraman, director and producer to make "The Great Train Robbery". With 14 shots cutting between simultaneous events. This 12-minute short establishes the shot as film's basic element and editing. It is also the first Western. -
1905
The first movie theater opens in Pittsburgh. it was called the nickleodeon -
1914
Winsor McCay unleashes Gertie the Dinosaur, the first animated cartoon. -
1915
D. W. Griffith's Civil War epic, The Birth of a Nation, introduces the narrative close-up, the flashback and other elements that endure today as the structural principles of filmmaking. -
1928
Walt Disney introduces Galloping Gaucho and Steamboat Willie, the first cartoons with sound. -
1939
The big-screen adaptation of Gone with the Wind premieres, and will go on to gross $192 million, making it one of the most profitable films of all time. It's also one of the longest films, running for 231 minutes. -
1969
Midnight Cowboy wins the Best Picture Oscar, the first and only time an X-rated movie received the honor. -
1976
The Steadicam is used for the first time in Rocky. -
1977
Star Wars hits theaters—for the first time—and will go on to be the second highest-grossing film of all time.