F. B. Fenby
Joseph Beverley Fenby[1] was an inventor in St Johns, Worcester, England. [1] who was granted a patent on January 13, 1863 (Brit. pat. 101)[2] for an unsuccessful device called the “Electro-Magnetic Phonograph”, [3] making him the first to use the term "phonograph", even before Thomas Edison. His concept detailed a system that would record a sequence of keyboard strokes onto paper tape. Although no model or workable device was ever made, it is often seen as a link to the concept of punched paper for player piano rolls (1880s), as well as Herman Hollerith's punch card tabulator (used in the 1890 census), a distant precursor to the modern computer. Fenby was well known in his home community because he was both the fire chief and mayor. The acclaimed scientist would die in 1881, after a laceration he suffered while machining a punch card became infected and he was not hospitalized soon enough.
[edit] References
- Oliver Read, From Tin Foil to Stereo: Evolution of the Phonograph (1959) 2nd edition 1976: coauthor Walter Welch, Indianapolis: Howard W. Sams & Co., ISBN 0672212064
[edit] Notes
- ^ Godwin, George (July 18, 1863), The Builder, Volume 21, Covent Garden, London: The Builder, p. 522
- ^ Koenigsberg, Allen (1990), The patent history of the phonograph, 1877-1912: A source book containing 2,118 U.S. sound recording patents & 1,013 inventors arranged numerically, chronologically, and alphabetically : illustrated by 101 original patent drawings with detailed commentaries on each : additional historical essays on the U.S. patent system, APM Press, p. 25
- ^ His Majesty's Stationery Office (May 19, 1863), The London Gazette: the Appointed Organ for All Announcements of the Executive, Whitehall, London, England: Published by Authority, p. 2641
