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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