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Meet Amazing Americans Scientists & Inventors Thomas Alva Edison
 
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Thomas Edison with Cylinder Phonograph 1878.
Photo of Edison with cylinder phonograph in 1878

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Edison Invents the Phonograph
Thomas Edison created many inventions, but his favorite was the phonograph. While working on improvements to the telegraph and the telephone, Edison figured out a way to record sound on tinfoil-coated cylinders. In 1877, he created a machine with two needles: one for recording and one for playback. When Edison spoke into the mouthpiece, the sound vibrations of his voice would be indented onto the cylinder by the recording needle. What do you think were the first words that Edison spoke into the phonograph?
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