Audio Timeline By: Shae Reid

The phonograph was born In 1877, Thomas Alva Edison regained Mary’s Little Lamb from a strip of tinfoil wrapped around a spinning cylinder. He demonstrates his invention to the offices of Scientific American.

The stereo affect In 1881, Clement Ader, using carbon microphones and armature headphones, accidentally produces a stereo effect when listeners outside the hall monitor adjacent telephone lines linked to stage mikes at the Paris Opera.

Multiple copies of flat-disc gramophone. In 1887, Emile Berliner is granted a patent on a flat-disc gramophone, making the production of multiple copies practical.

Electric motor-drivin phonograph In 1888, Edison introduces an electric motor-driven phonograph.

First transatlantic signals In 1895, Marconi successfully experiments with his wireless telegraphy system in Italy, leading to the first transatlantic signals from Poldhu, Cornwall, UK to St. John's, Newfoundland in 1901.

Telegraphone In 1898, Valdemar Poulsen patents his "Telegraphone," recording magnetically on steel wire.

First electronic signal amplifier In 1906, Lee DeForest invents the triode vacuum tube, the first electronic signal amplifier.

First live broadcast In 1910, Enrico Caruso is heard in the first live broadcast from the Metropolitan Opera, NYC.

The first “talking movie” In 1913, The first "talking movie" is demonstrated by Edison using his Kinetophone process, a cylinder player mechanically synchronized to a film projector.

The Scully disk recording In 1917, The Scully disk recording lathe is introduced. E. C. Wente of Bell Telephone Laboratories publishes a paper in Physical Review describing a "uniformly sensitive instrument for the absolute measurement of sound intensity" -- the condenser microphone.

RCA is founded In 1919, The Radio Corporation of America (RCA) is founded. It is owned in part by United Fruit.

First commercial on AM radio broadcast In 1921, The first commercial AM radio broadcast is made by KDKA, Pittsburgh PA.

Magnetic recorder using steel tape In 1929, Harry Nyquist publishes the mathematical foundation for the sampling theorem basic to all digital audio processing, the "Nyquist Theorem." The "Blattnerphone" is developed for use as a magnetic recorder using steel tape.

The first cardioids ribbon microphone is patented In 1932, The first cardioids ribbon microphone is patented by Dr. Harry F. Olson of RCA, using a field coil instead of a permanent magnet.

Magnetic recording on steel wire is developed commercially In 1933, Magnetic recording on steel wire is developed commercially. Snow, Fletcher, and Steinberg at Bell Labs transmit the first inter-city stereo audio program.

first plastic-based magnetic tapes In 1935, AEG (Germany) exhibits its "Magnetophon" Model K-1 at the Berlin Radio Exposition. BASF prepares the first plastic-based magnetic tapes.

first tape recording of a symphony concert In 1936, BASF makes the first tape recording of a symphony concert during a visit by the touring London Philharmonic Orchestra. Sir Thomas Beecham conducts Mozart. Von Braunmühl and Weber apply for a patent on the cardioids condenser microphone.

first column loudspeaker array In 1938, Benjamin B. Bauer of Shure Bros. engineers a single microphone element to produce a cardioids pickup pattern, called the Unidyne, Model 55. This later becomes the basis for the well known SM57 and SM58 microphones. Under the direction of Dr. Harry Olson, Leslie J. Anderson designs the 44B ribbon bidirectional microphone and the 77B ribbon unidirectional for RCA. RCA develops the first column loudspeaker array.

eight-track stereophonic sound In 1940, Walt Disney's "Fantasia" is released, with eight-track stereophonic sound.

Commercial FM broadcasting begins in the U.S In 1941, Commercial FM broadcasting begins in the U.S. Arthur Haddy of English Decca devises the first motional feedback, lateral-cut disk recording head, later used to cut their "ffrr" high-fidelity recordings.

The first stereo tape recordings In 1942, The RCA LC-1 loudspeaker is developed as a reference-standard control-room monitor. Dr. Olson patents a single-ribbon cardioids microphone (later developed as the RCA 77D and 77DX), and a "phased-array" directional microphone. The first stereo tape recordings are made by Helmut Kruger at German Radio in Berlin.

Model 604 coaxial loudspeaker In 1943, Altec develops their Model 604 coaxial loudspeaker.

Sources http://www.aes.org/aeshc/docs/audio.history.timeline.html