Edison is granted U.S. Patent 200,521 for the phonograph
On 19 February 1878 the United States issued Patent 200,521 to Edison for a phonograph or speaking machine using tin-foil on a cylinder. Public demonstrations, including before the National Academy of Sciences, followed the 1877 laboratory work. In the causal graph this event strengthens Social Cohesion, a driver that strengthens Having a say in government — an improving welfare path.
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On 19 February 1878 the United States issued Patent 200,521 to Edison for a phonograph or speaking machine using tin-foil on a cylinder. Public demonstrations, including before the National Academy of Sciences, followed the 1877 laboratory work.
Patent 200,521 for the phonograph (1878-02-19).
Context
The first commercial music industry is later. Bell and Tainter’s wax Graphophone forced Edison back into the field in the 1880s. This Fact is the 1878 patent, not every later disc.
Thomas Edison is not the sole author of every later object, law, or museum label that uses the name. Shared work with courts, excavators, printers, spouses, officials, and later states does not erase a documented role, and it does not make an ancient person the signer of a twentieth-century statute.
Why it matters
Cultural-access path.
A demonstration toy and a record industry are different instruments.
Who was responsible
Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.
Thomas Edison
PersonDirect responsibility
responsibility level 0.7 · verified
He is the named inventor of the 1878 tin-foil cylinder instrument. Later wax-cylinder commercialisation involved Bell, Tainter and others.
What changed
Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.
- FactEdison is granted U.S. Patent 200,521 for the phonograph
- strengthensDriverSocial Cohesion
- strengthensIndicators (2)Having a say in government
impact weight 0.55 · Effect from 19 February 1878 · verified
A machine that recorded and replayed speech created a new public shared-sound medium, with commercial lag into the 1880s–90s.
Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.25 (weight 0.55 × strength 0.45)
Observed
29.8% of population aged 16-65 years · 8.13 below the normal line (2023)
Worse than normalTwo readings: 30.2% of population aged 16-65 years (2021) and 29.8% of population aged 16-65 years (2023).
20212023 Above normal = better
Weakens · Relationship strength 0.25 (weight 0.55 × strength 0.45)
Observed
43.9 Score · 43.9 above the normal line (2024)
Worse than normal26 readings, 1996–2024: rose from 43 Score to 43.9 Score.
Normal is zero · any amount = worse
Evidence
The sources behind this fact and its verification state.
- 1.Edison Company Motion Pictures and Sound RecordingsLibrary of Congress · High credibility · verified
- 2.U.S. Patent 200,521 — Phonograph or Speaking Machine (1878)United States Patent and Trademark Office / Google Patents · High credibility · verified
What the sources establish
The patent is a federal instrument. Library of Congress Edison sound-recording essays independently date the 1878 grant.
Established: Patent 200,521 on 19 February 1878. Not established: that tin-foil cylinders already constituted a music market, or that Edison invented every later microphone.
Causal path
How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.
- ActorThomas Edison
- contributed toFactEdison is granted U.S. Patent 200,521 for the phonograph
- strengthensDriverSocial Cohesion
- strengthensIndicatorHaving a say in government
Cite this page
Factrail. (2026). Edison is granted U.S. Patent 200,521 for the phonograph. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/us-edison-phonograph-patent-1878
https://factrail.ai/facts/us-edison-phonograph-patent-1878
Accessed 16 October 2026.
By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed
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