 The History of Moving Images Moving images surround us. Today, watching and creating videos is as easy as clicking a button. But it wasn't always this simple. It's taken almost 200 years to get to here. 1832. Simon Ritter von Stamphner invented the stroboscope. The device, when spun, created the optical illusion of moving images. In 1861, a similar device made it possible to project the images onto a wall. In 1872, the governor of California hired British photographer Edward Mybridge to help him win a bet that during a horse race, all four of the horse's hooves would leave the track. Mybridge lined up 24 cameras that each took a photo as the horses raced past. The governor won the bet. And without realizing, Mybridge had just shot the first second of cinema. In the 1890s, Louis Le Prince and Thomas Edison invented the first patent in cinema cameras. While in France, the Lumiere brothers were also pioneering the use of celluloid to capture moving images. At around the same time, the invention of the movie projector meant that an audience could watch the images. And so, cinema became a reality. A golden age of silent film brought the world to life. Greats like Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton introduced generations to the joy of the moving image. Then in the 1920s, it became possible to synchronize image and sound, and the talk he was born. Cinema became the primary form of visual entertainment as audiences throughout the world got to experience the joy of going to the movies. Decades of pioneering filmmaking followed, with Hollywood as the most influential producer. It was the invention of TV that revolutionized the moving image. Ordinary households could watch programs and movies in the comfort of their homes. Later, the invention of video made it possible to record and play back content. For years, these remained the main ways of watching content, but the internet was about to change everything. At first, it was virtually impossible to watch videos online. Quality was poor and connections were slow, but as technology improved, videos on sites like YouTube increased in quality. Now, advanced cameras built into mobile devices means anyone with a phone or tablet computer can instantly create and upload content. It's never been easier to share moving images with the world. And this is where a new story begins.