The History of Film

By ashley0915

  • First Motion Picture Studio

    The first motion-picture studio was created by The Edison Corporation. It had the nickname Black Maria.

  • Kinetescope

    The first Kinetoscope parlor opens at 1155 Broadway in New York City. Spectators watched films for 25 cents.

  • First Screening

    In France, Auguste and Louis Lumière held the first private screening. The brothers invented the Cinématograph.

  • The Great Robbery

    Edison Corporation mechanic, Edwin S. Porter, makes The Great Train Robbery film. This film was 14 shots between events lasting 12 minutes long.

  • First Movie Theatre

    The first movie theatre was opened in Pittsburgh

  • Little Tramp

    In his second big-screen appearance, Charlie Chaplin plays the Little Tramp, his most famous character.

  • 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.

  • Charlie Chaplin

    Charlie Chaplin signs on with Mutual Studios and earns an unprecedented $10,000 a week.

  • United Artists

    Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Douglas Fairbanks, and Mary Pickford establish United Artists in an attempt to control their own work.

  • Rin Tin Tin

    German Shepherd Rin Tin Tin becomes film's first canine star.

  • Alice's Wonderland

    Walt Disney creates his first cartoon, "Alice's Wonderland."

  • Code of Decency

    As head of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America, William Hays establishes a code of decency that outlines what is acceptable in films.