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Charles Francis Jenkins(1867-1934)

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Charles Francis Jenkins in Television (1988)
American motion picture pioneer and creator of over 400 inventions. Invented and patented the Phantoscope in early 1890s, a projector using continuously moving film. He is credited by many film historians as having shown the first motion picture before an audience on June 6, 1894 in his hometown of Richmond, Indiana. Later, having bought Jenkins out, his former partner Thomas Armat sold the marketing rights to Thomas Edison, whom changed the name to Edison's Vitascope. Upon further improvements to the projector, the Vitacope was patented in 1896 by Edison. Jenkins was later active in television, becoming the first person to publicly demonstrate synchronized transmission of silhouette pictures and sound in June 1925. Three years later, he inaugurated America's first TV station, W3XK, broadcasting from Washington DC as part of the Jenkins Television Corporation.
Born1867
Died1934
Born1867
Died1934
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  • Born
    • 1867
    • Dayton, Ohio, USA
  • Died
    • 1934

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  • Trivia
    American motion picture pioneer, a former stenographer. Invented and patented the Phantascope in 1894, a projector using continuously moving film. His Phantascope Projector was later improved by his former classmate Thomas Armat, who, having bought Jenkins out, patented it as the Vitascope in 1896 and sold the marketing rights to Thomas Edison. Jenkins was later active in television, becoming the first person to publicly demonstrate synchronized transmission of silhouette pictures and sound in June 1925. Three years later, he inaugurated America's first TV station, W3XK, broadcasting from Washington DC as part of the Jenkins Television Corporation.

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