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"wheel of life" or "zoopraxiscope"
The first machine patented in the United States that showed animated pictures or movies was a device called the "wheel of life" or "zoopraxiscope". Patented in 1867 by William Lincoln, -
Period: to
history of motion pictures
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Edison company successfully demonstrated the Kinetoscope,
the Edison company successfully demonstrated the Kinetoscope, which enabled one person at a time to view moving pictures. -
Louis Lumiere is often credited as inventing the first motion picture camera
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Lumiere and his brother
Lumiere and his brother were the first to present projected, moving, photographic, pictures to a paying audience of more that one person. -
Edison showed his improved vitascope projector
Later in 1896, Edison showed his improved vitascope projector and it was the first
commercially, successful, projector in the u.s . -
The American Mutoscope Company
The American Mutoscope Company (later renamed the American Mutoscope & Biograph Company and frequently called the "Biograph Company"), marketing their own films and their new biograph projector, becomes the foremost motion picture company in the U.S. -
The sinking of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor
The sinking of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor gives rise to a multitude of Spanish-American War films.Edison files a patent-infringement suit against the Biograph Company.Edison files a patent-infringement suit against the Biograph Company. -
Vaudeville theatres
Vaudeville theatres establish permanent relations with motion picture exhibition services.
Biography introduces a new tripod head that allows quick, smooth panning of the camera.
Although the vast majority of films still consist of a single shot, a few multi-shot films begin to be included in the catalogues of film companies. -
The actualities (scenes of daily life), the news events
The actualities (scenes of daily life), the news events (both real and reconstructed), and the worn-out dramatic and comic situations that have become the standard fare of film exhibitions, begin to bore audiences. Attendance at the showing of motion pictures begins to fall. -
The French film company, Pathè Frères, hires Ferdinand Zecca
The French film company, Pathè Frères, hires Ferdinand Zecca to be its head of film production. Within a year the number of Pathè releases surpasses the output of the popular French producer, Georges Méliès.
