The LOC.GOV Wise Guide : Are You the Next American Inventor?

On Aug. 12, 1877, Thomas Alva Edison is believed to have completed the model for the first phonograph, a device that recorded sound onto tinfoil cylinders. Twenty years later, on Aug. 31, the "Wizard of Menlo Park" received a patent for the kinetoscope, the forerunner of the motion picture film projector. A century earlier, also in the month of August, John Fitch not only demonstrated the first successful steamboat but was also granted a United States patent for his invention. With the month proving to be a notable one in our nation's invention history, it is quite appropriate that August is National Inventor's Month.

Thomas Edison, half-length portrait, facing left and looking down into glass, experimenting in his laboratory. 1920

John Fitch's sketch and description of piston for steamboat propulsion. ca. 1795

Created in 1995 by the United Inventors Association of the USA (UIA-USA), the Academy of Applied Science and Inventors' Digest, this annual commemoration aims to guide up-and-coming inventors, young and old, on the processes of product development, inspire creativity and innovation, and promote the positive image of inventors and their contributions. The Library itself could be considered an able partner, with its American Memory Edison collection titled "Inventing Entertainment: The Motion Pictures and Sound Recordings of the Edison Companies." The presentation contains surviving products of Edison's entertainment inventions and industries, including motion pictures, disc sound recordings, and other related materials, such as photographs and original magazine articles. In addition, histories are given of Edison's involvement with motion pictures and sound recordings, as well as a special feature focusing on the life of the great inventor.

American Memory is also home to other collections that laud the achievements of our nation's inventors. The Library is home to the papers of Samuel F.B. Morse, the man who invented the electromagnetic telegraph, and Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone. In the "Words and Deeds in American History" presentation, you can check out, among other things, Thomas Jefferson's sketch of a macaroni machine.

A. Thomas Edison, half-length portrait, facing left and looking down into glass, experimenting in his laboratory. 1920. Prints and Photographs Division. Reproduction Information: Reproduction No.: LC-USZ62-98832 (b&w film copy neg.); Call No.: BIOG FILE - Edison, Thomas Alva, 1847-1931--In his laboratory <item> [P&P]

B. John Fitch's sketch and description of piston for steamboat propulsion. ca. 1795. Manuscript Division. Reproduction Information: Reproduction No.: LC-MSS-20990-14 (B&W negative)