Born on July 1
The First Personal Stereo
Music in your pocket, wherever you go.
Next: July 1, 2027
Where it comes from
This Story marks the anniversary of the day music started to travel with us. Sony co-founder Masaru Ibuka wanted to listen to music in stereo on long flights abroad, so engineers turned a small mono tape recorder into a stereo player for him.
How it's celebrated
There is no organised observance, but it is an easy day to mark. Put on your headphones and take a walk with an album you love, played from start to finish. Make a playlist, the modern mixtape, for a friend and send it with a card, or dig out an old cassette and remember the first song you ever carried around with you.
Did you know
Many people inside and outside Sony doubted a tape player that could not record would ever sell; by the autumn of 1979 it was so popular that shops ran out of stock.
Read the full story of The First Personal Stereo
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