Emile Berliner, Eng 1876
Emile Berliner, Eng 1876 is the inventor of the microphone, the loose-contact telephone transmitter, and the disc type record player, which replaced Edison’s more expensive and delicate cylinder player and advanced the place of the record industry in home entertainment.
Emile Berliner was born in Hanover Germany. Emile Berliner immigrated to New York when he was nineteen and studied sound and electricity at The Cooper Union. After inventing the microphone in 1877, which featured an improved voice, he became chief inspector at Bell Telephone. In 1887, Berliner improved on Tomas Edison’s music machine which played music cylinders. Berliner’s played flat disks that could be easily duplicated. He patented his gramophone, which became the industry standard when collaborator Eldridge R. Johnson founded Radio Corporation of America, or RCA. He later patented a light weight airplane engine and acoustic tiles for soundproofing.
Sadly, his youngest daughter died in 1900, possibly from contaminated milk. Emile Berliner worked tirelessly on promoting the cause of pasteurization of milk to improve the health of infants and children. He left $100,000. to the Children’s Health Bureau to continue this work upon his death. Emile Berliner donates 100 Thousand to Children’s Bureau.
Emile Berliner died on August 3, 1929 at age 79.
The New York Times wrote a celebratory piece on Emile Beliner in 1988 when his electric gramaphone turned 100 years old. Read here
Emile Berlinger was inducted into the Cooper Union Hall of Fame in 2009.