Category Archives: 1890s

Edison Kinetoscopic records Fred Ott’s sneeze 120 years ago today (Jan 7 1894)


Video: 'Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze, Jan. 7, 1894'


(Sunday, January 7, 1894) — One of the earliest motion picture experiments took place today at the Thomas Edison studio in West Orange, New Jersey, as Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze (a.k.a. Fred Ott’s Sneeze) was filmed taking a pinch of snuff and sneezing.

Katharine Lee Bates writes ‘America the Beautiful’ poem 120 years ago today (1893)


Video: 'Katherine Lee Bates -America the Beautiful'

(Saturday, July 22, 1893) — Wellesley College professor Katharine Lee Bates today visited the summit of Pikes Peak, where she was inspired to write the original version of her poem “America the Beautiful.” Samuel A. Ward’s music to the poem would be published in 1910.