Facts About the Phonograph

History

• The phonograph was invented in 1877 by the inventor Thomas Alva Edison. It was a result of Edison working on two of his other inventions, the telegraph and telephone. It later became his favorite invention.

Function

• The phonograph was used to play recorded sounds on records and is better known simply as the record player. It was the first of its kind to ever record sounds and play them.

Linguistics

• Phonograph literally means "writing sound" or "sound writer" and has its roots in the Greek language. Another word similar to phonograph with the same meaning is gramophone.

Gramophone

• The gramophone was a phonograph-like invention invented by Emile Berlinear after Edison's invention. Berlinear's invention could record and play sounds, like the phonograph, but Berlinear's gramophone recorded on a disk unlike the phonograph which used cylinder recording.

Time Frame

• Since its invention, devices similar to the phonograph, such as turntables, could be found in many homes up until the early 1990s and phonographs are now considered an antique piece of equipment.