-
Invention of 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 -
Phenakistiscope
the invention of the Fantascope (also called Phenakistiscope or "spindle viewer") by Belgian inventor Joseph Plateau, a device that simulated motion. A series or sequence of separate pictures depicting stages of an activity, such as juggling or dancing, were arranged around the perimeter or edges of a slotted disk. When the disk was placed before a mirror and spun or rotated, a spectator looking through the slots 'perceived' a moving picture. -
Invention of celluloid film
A British inventor, William H. Fox Talbot, an English classical archaeologist, made paper sensitive to light by bathing it in a solution of salt and silver nitrate. The silver turned dark when exposed to light and created a negative, which could be used to print positives on other sheets of light sensitive paper. -
Invention of Kinematoscope,
the invention of the Kinematoscope, patented by Philadelphian Coleman Sellers, an improved rotating paddle machine to view (by hand-cranking) a series of stereoscopic still pictures on glass plates that were sequentially mounted in a cabinet-box -
The first demonstration of Phasmotrope
the first demonstration of the Phasmotrope (or Phasmatrope) by Henry Renno Heyl in Philadelphia, that showed a rapid succession of still or posed photographs of dancers, giving the illusion of motion -
the invention of the Praxinoscope by French inventor Charles Emile Reynaud
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 -
Eadweard Muybridge takes the first successful photographs of motion
British photographer Eadweard Muybridge takes the first successful photographs of motion, showing how people and animals move. -
Etienne Marey in France develops a camera, shaped like a gun
Etienne Marey in France develops a camera, shaped like a gun, that can take twelve pictures per second. -
George Eastman introduces film made on a paper base instead of glass
American inventor George Eastman introduces film made on a paper base instead of glass, wound in a roll, eliminating the need for glass plates. -
Kodak camera
George Eastman introduces the lightweight, inexpensive Kodak camera, using film wound on rollers. -
Thomas Edison and W.K. Dickson develop the Kinetoscope
Thomas Edison and W.K. Dickson develop the Kinetoscope, a peep-show device in which film is moved past a light. -
Coin-operated Kinetoscopes appear in a New York City amusement arcade.
Coin-operated Kinetoscopes appear in a New York City amusement arcade. -
First private screening
In France, Auguste and Louis Lumière hold the first private screening. The brothers invent the Cinématograph, a combination camera and projector -
The Great Train Robbery
Edison Corporation mechanic Edwin S. 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 as a central narrative device. It is also the first Western. -
First movie theater
The first movie theater opens in Pittsburgh. -
The first animated cartoon is produced.
The first animated cartoon is produced. -
Thomas Edison introduces his kinetophone
Thomas Edison introduces his kinetophone -
The first feature film is released
The first feature film is released when the two reels of D. W. Griffith's Enoch Arden are screened together. -
Photoplay
Photoplay debuts as the first magazine for movie fans -
The Birth of a Nation
D. W. Griffith's technically brilliant 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 narrative filmmaking
