4.1: The History of Audio.

Audio is sound that is capable of being heard. It started from humble beginnings and eventually progressed on a wide scale.
The History of Audio:

• Thomas Alvi Edison succeeded in recovering Mary's Little Lamb from a strip of tinfoil wrapped around a spinning cylinder, whilst working in his lab. 1877
• The first music is put on record: cornetist Jules Levy plays "Yankee Doodle" 1878
• Clement Ader accidentally produces a stereo effect at the Paris Opera using carbon microphones and armature headphones. 1881
  
• Marconi achieves wireless radio transmission from Italy to America. 1895
• Lee DeForest invents the first ever electronic amplifier. 1906
• Enrico Caruso is heard in the first ever live broadcast from Metropolitan, NYC 1910
• The Radio Corporation of America was founded. 1919
• The first commercial AM radio broadcast is made by KDKA Pittsburgh, PA. 1921
  
• Dr. Harry F. Olson of RCA patents the first cardioid ribbon microphone using a field coil instead of a permanent magnet. 1932
• BASF makes the first tape recording of a symphony concert. Sir Thomas Beecham conducts Mozart. 1936
• Walt Disney's "Fantasia" is released, with eight-track stereophonic sound. 1940
• Commercial FM broadcasting begins in the US. 1941
• Ampex produces its first tape recorder (MODEL 200). 1947
• Ampex produces its first professional studio recorder. 1949
• Ampex produces a portable tape recorder.
  
  The first commercial 2-track stereo tapes are released. 1954
• Gerhard Sessler and James West patent the electret microphone whilst working at Bell Labs. 1963
• Sony releases the first CD player. 1982
• Fiber-optic cable is used for long-distance digital audio transmission, linking New York and Washington, D.C. 1983
• The Apple Corporation markets the Macintosh computer. 1984
• The first digital consoles appear. 1986
• Dolby proposes a 5-channel surround-sound scheme for home theatre systems. 1990
• MP-3 players for downloaded internet audio appear. 1998