Drawing for a Kinetographic Camera, 08/31/1897 (ARC ID 595495)

Thomas Alva Edison, inveterate American inventor, was born on February 11, 1847.  In 1891,  Edison submitted a patent application for a kinetoscope, more commonly referred to today as a motion picture camera. Edison wanted to “do for the eye what the phonograph does for the ear.” Later, he submitted patent applications, like this one in 1902, improving his original design, in an effort to perfect his invention.

The footage below,  ”Carmencita: Spanish Dance,” was filmed by Thomas Edison on a kinetoscope  and is the oldest film in the National Archives motion pictures holding.

We already featured Edison’s patent for “Improvements in Electric Lamps” last month, and be sure to check Online Public Access for more Edison-related records

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