Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison received US patent 180,857 for Autographic Printing on August 8, 1876, establishing the legal basis for his stencil duplicating technology.

In 1880, Edison obtained a further patent for the method of preparing autographic stencils using a file plate.

Albert Blake Dick licensed Edison's patents in 1887, introducing the term 'mimeograph' for the technology.

Edison announced his invention of the phonograph on November 21, 1877, a device for recording and replaying sound.

Edison demonstrated the phonograph for the first time on November 29, 1877.

Berliner's microphone designs found commercial success through use by Alexander Graham Bell, leading to Berliner's employment by Bell Telephone.

Berliner filed multiple microphone patents in 1879, including carbon diaphragm and loose carbon rod designs, which were issued in 1880.

In 1901, the United States Court of Appeals declared Berliner's patent void, awarding full rights to Edison.

Edison's phonograph was patented on February 19, 1878, as US Patent 200,521, following earlier announcements and demonstrations.

The SS Columbia was launched at 11:40 am on February 24, 1880, at the John Roach & Sons shipyard in Chester, Pennsylvania.

The ship was lit for the first time on May 2, 1880, in New York City after Edison's personnel installed the lights.

Edison received U.S. Patent 223,898 for his incandescent lamp design on January 27, 1880.

Edison's Pearl Street Station was switched on in New York City on September 4, 1882, providing 110 volts DC to an initial load of 400 lamps for 82 customers.

By 1884, Pearl Street Station served 508 customers with over 10,000 lamps.

The Edison Electric Light Station began running on 12 January 1882, generating electricity for public use.

On January 19, 1883, the first electric lighting system using overhead wires began service in Roselle, New Jersey, installed by Thomas Edison.

The First Presbyterian Church in Roselle was the first church in the United States to be lit by electricity and the second in the world after London's City Temple church.

A petition criticizing the tower's aesthetics was published in February 1887.

Gustave Eiffel led officials to the top of the tower on March 31, 1889, marking its completion.

The 1889 Paris Exposition opened on May 6, featuring the Eiffel Tower as its entrance.

Thomas Edison visited the exposition in August 1889 to demonstrate his improved phonograph.

Muybridge demonstrated his zoopraxiscope in Orange, New Jersey, on February 25, 1888, producing the illusion of motion from glass discs.

Edison filed a preliminary claim for a motion picture device in October 1888, following Muybridge's proposal.

Kemmler's legal appeals regarding the electric chair failed in late 1889, enabling his execution.

William Kemmler was executed at Auburn Prison on August 6, 1890, marking the first judicial use of the electric chair.

Edison's laboratory hosted an invitational demonstration for the National Federation of Women's Clubs on May 20, 1891.

General Electric was established in 1892 through the merger of Edison General Electric and Thomson-Houston Electric Company, orchestrated by J. P. Morgan.

Edison completed the first purpose-built motion picture studio, the Black Maria, in 1893 at his West Orange laboratory.