30
October
Media History Timeline
A timeline of major developments in recording media and technology. Sort by year and media type etc..
| Year | Media | Description | Who |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1838 | Photo | Daguerreotype, a positive photo only | Louis Daguerre |
| 1840 | Photo | Calotype process, made a negative to produce prints | William Fox Talbot |
| 1844 | Telegraph | First telegraph line | Samuel Morse |
| 1851 | Photo | Wet plate collodion process | Frederick Scott Archer |
| 1861 | Photo | First known colour photo | James Clark Maxwell |
| 1871 | Photo | Gelatin dry plate process | Dr. Richard L. Maddox |
| 1876 | Telephone | Telephone invented | Alexander Graham Bell |
| 1877 | Sound | Cylinder phonograph | Thomas Edison |
| 1884 | Photo | Flexible B/W film and paper printing | George Eastman |
| 1887 | Sound | Gramophone flat disc | Emile Berliner |
| 1892 | Film | 35mm motion picture film | William Dickson and Thomas Edison |
| 1893 | Film | The Kinetoscope using a film loop for one person viewing | Thomas Alva Edison |
| 1894 | Radio | Radio invented | Guglielmo Marconi |
| 1895 | Film | First motion picture film exhibited in Berlin | |
| 1898 | Sound | Magnetic steel wire and band recording | Valdemar Poulsen |
| 1907 | Photo | Autochrome colour film process | Lumière brothers |
| 1908 | Photo | Dufaycolor colour transparency film | Louis Dufay |
| 1908 | Photo | Finlay Colour transparency film | Clare L. Finlay |
| 1913 | Film | First talking movie using a cylinder linked to a film projector. | Thomas Alva Edison |
| 1913 | Photo | 35mm still photography first appeared | The Tourist Multiple |
| 1920s | Sound | Introduction of electrical microphones | Joseph Maxwell |
| 1921 | Film | 9.5 mm film | Pathe |
| 1922 | Film | 16mm film | Kodak |
| 1923 | Film | Sound on short films | |
| 1925 | Photo | First Leica 35mm still camera | Oskar Barnack |
| 1927 | Film | First full length sound on disc movie | The Jazz Singer |
| 1932 | Film | Standard/Regular 8mm film | Kodak |
| 1932 | Film | First full colour movie (Flowers & Trees) | Walt Disney |
| 1935 | Film | Kodachrome colour 16mm motion picture film | Kodak |
| 1935 | Sound | Magnetic tape recording in Germany | AEG |
| 1936 | Photo | Kodachrome 35mm still film | Kodak |
| 1936 | Photo | Agfacolor transparency film | Agfa |
| 1937 | Film | First animated feature (Snow White) | Walt Disney |
| 1940s | Sound | Audiotape developed in Germany | |
| 1940 | Photo | Ektachrome slide film | Kodak |
| 1942 | Photo | Kodacolor negative process, later used for motion pictures | Kodak |
| 1946 | Photo | Agfacolor dye transfer prints (imibibition process) | Agfa |
| 1947 | Sound | First magnetic tape broadcast in USA | John T Mullin and Bing Crosby |
| 1948 | Sound | Microgroove LP record | Columbia Records |
| 1950s | Sound | Multitrack tape recording | Ampex |
| 1956 | Video | First practical video tape recorder, 2" wide tape | Ampex |
| 1960s | Radio | The rise of FM radio | |
| 1960s | Sound | Stereo recording & playback equipment introducted | |
| 1963 | Sound | Compact cassette | Philips |
| 1964 | Sound | 8 track cartridge | Bill Lear |
| 1965 | Film | Super 8mm movie film | Kodak |
| 1965 | Photo | Polacolor (dye diffusion process) | Polaroid |
| 1965 | Video | 1" reel to reel video tape recorder | Ampex |
| 1966 | Film | Single 8mm movie film | Fuji |
| 1966 | Video | Telstar 1 satellite television & telephone | |
| 1971 | Video | U Matic video cassette recorder | Sony |
| 1975 | Computer | First personal computer | Olivetti |
| 1975 | Video | Betamax video cassette recorder | Sony |
| 1976 | Computer | Apple 1 | Apple Computer Company |
| 1976 | Video | 1" Type C reel to reel video tape | |
| 1976 | Video | VHS video cassette recorder | JVC |
| 1977 | Computer | Commodore PET | Commodore International |
| 1975 | Sound | Digital sound recording, professional studios | |
| 1981 | Computer | First model IBM compatible PC Computer | IBM |
| 1981 | Sound | Compact Disc | Philips and Sony |
| 1982 | Video | Betacam SP pro video cassette recorder | Sony |
| 1984 | Video | Video 8 video camcoder | Kodak |
| 1985 | Video | VHS-C video cassette | |
| 1987 | Video | Super VHS video cassette | |
| 1990 | Video | Hi-8 mm video cassette | |
| 1991 | Photo | First commercially available digital single lens reflex camera | Kodak |
| 1995 | Video | Mini DV video camcorder | Sony |
| 1999 | Video | Digital 8 video camcorder | Sony |
| 2003 | Video | HDV video camcorder | JVC |
| 1997 | Video | DVD video disc | |
| 1995 | Sound | First “solid state” electronic only sound recorder released. | |
| 2001 | Sound | iPod introduced | |
| 2001 | Sound | MP3 format, compressed digital audio files |
Two older movies of the Monte Cristo theme.
Tarzan, 6 movies of various actors and eras.
Charlie Chan Detective, 8 x 65 min movie episodes
The Whispering Shadow, 12 x 18 min movie episodes
Leslie Howard Movies
Dick Tracy, 4 movie episodes
The Three Stooges Movie Collection, 6 x episodes
Abbot and Costello Movies, Africa Screams and Jack and the Beanstalk
Dramas On Trains Movies, Broadway Ltd and The Ghost Train
Movies, The Scarlet Pimpernel and The Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel
Sherlock Holmes Movies 4 x 60min episodes
Bulldog Drummond 8 x 60 min movie episodes 

