Born on December 6

Edison's Phonograph Talks Back

The day a machine spoke.

Next: December 6, 2026

Where it comes from

This Story marks the anniversary of 6 December 1877, the day Thomas Edison's tinfoil phonograph was finished. His machinist, John Kruesi, built it from Edison's sketch: a grooved cylinder wrapped in tin foil and turned by a hand crank.

How it's celebrated

There is no formal observance, but it is a lovely day to listen. The US National Park Service, which cares for Edison's laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey, shares early recordings online, among them Edison reciting the same rhyme in 1927 to show how he made the first record.

Did you know

That first tinfoil recording was not kept and no longer exists.

Read the full story of Edison's Phonograph Talks Back

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