In 1877, Thomas Edison invented the first device to ever record and play back sound. Speaking into a mouthpiece caused a metal stylus attached to a diaphragm to move up and down. The stylus made ...

Aug. 12, 1877, is the date popularly given for Thomas Alva Edison’s completion of the model for the first phonograph, a device that recorded sound onto tinfoil cylinders.

November of 1877, the publication Scientific American enthuses about Thomas Edison's new invention: the phonograph, a way to record and play back sound. Calling it a "wonderful invention," the article ...

Prior to Thomas Edison’s invention of the phonograph in 1877, the world had no means of recording the human voice; and the enjoyment of prerecorded music was limited to the player piano. Edison was ...

The education of an innovator -- The invention factory -- The tinfoil phonograph -- A big bonanza : Edison's electric lighting system -- From Menlo Park to West Orange -- A phonograph in every home -- ...