As one of the most famous and prolific inventors of all time, American genius Thomas Edison exerted an enormous influence on modern life. He contributed inventions such as the incandescent light bulb, the phonograph and improved telephone technology, as well as motion picture cameras and film projectors like this Edison 35mm projecting kinetoscope. This example was discovered under the Avalon Theatre in Hobart, Tasmania, where it was used until 1914.

Before 1895, kinetoscopes allowed only one person at a time to view moving pictures through a peephole. After the debut of the Lumière brothers’ Cinématographe in Paris in 1895, Edison added a projector that enabled the images to be seen by a larger audience. In doing so, the modern cinema experience was born.