Where does this come from, and can I check it?

The first machine that could play sound back was built in 1877. The figure is taken from National Park Service, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.

Is this really a music fact?

Yes. It sits on the Music shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.

What else can I read about it?

The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.

Mondo Knows Facts

Edison's phonograph recorded sound onto tinfoil

The first machine that could play sound back was built in 1877 Thomas Edison's phonograph cut a groove into tinfoil wrapped around a hand-turned cylinder, using a stylus that vibrated with the sound. It could record and replay speech, but the foil tore after a few plays and copies were hard to make. Edison set the idea aside for a decade before returning with wax. It sits in Mondo's music collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.

Where this comes from

National Park Service

Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.

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Wax cylinders lost the first format warEdison backed cylinders while rivals pushed discs that could be stamped Berliner's gramophone played flat shellac discsHis lateral cut read a groove that wandered sideways instead of up and down Microphones replaced recording horns in 1925Electrical cutting roughly doubled the range of frequencies a disc could hold The first practical tape recorder was GermanAEG's Magnetophon and BASF plastic tape appeared in the mid 1930s Bing Crosby paid for America's first tape recordersThe singer invested in Ampex so his radio show could be pre-recorded Les Paul helped Ampex build an eight-track recorderSel-Sync let him overdub a new part while hearing the ones already recorded

Tags: recording, edison, invention

Edison's phonograph recorded sound onto tinfoil: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: The first machine that could play sound back was built in 1877. The figure is taken from National Park Service, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a music fact?: Yes. It sits on the Music shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?: The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.