Kinetoscope

Witness the recording of Fred Ott sneezing captured by Kinetoscopic, 1894See all videos for this article

Kinetoscope, forerunner of the motion-picture film projector, invented by Thomas A. Edison and William Dickson of the United States in 1891. In it, a strip of film was passed rapidly between a lens and an electric light bulb while the viewer peered through a peephole. Behind the peephole was a spinning wheel with a narrow slit that acted as a shutter, permitting a momentary view of each of the 46 frames passing in front of the shutter every second. The result was a lifelike representation of persons and objects in motion. At first, Edison regarded his invention as an insignificant toy. He secured a U.S. patent, but neglected to obtain patents in other countries; in 1894, when the Kinetoscope was finally publicly exhibited on Broadway, in New York City, it created an immediate sensation. Several Kinetoscopes sold in Europe formed the basis of the first apparatus used to project motion-picture film. See also Cinématographe.