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 |
