Fax machine from year 1900
30 November 2004 - 2:47pm
This fax-by-telegraph machine was in operation at the New York Herald in 1900. From a Pearson's Magazine article published at the time:
Quote:
"The equipment consists of two machines, almost identical in construction, the first being called the " transmitter," the second the " receiver." Each is provided with an eight-inch cylinder, which may be made to revolve by a delicate system of clockwork so finely regulated that both instruments work together to a nicety.Above each cylinder rests a fine platinum needle, or stylus, not unlike the point in a telegraph key. A sheet of tin-foil, six inches by eight inches, ready to wrap round the transmitter's cylinder, and a sheet of ordinary carbon manifold-copying paper of the same dimensions, which, when placed between two sheets of blank paper, is to be wrapped round the receiver's cylinder--these complete the chief requirements."
If you think that's old you might be surprised to find that the first fax machine (although it may never have worked) was actually made in 1843!! That's about 30 years before the telephone was invented. Talk about solving the chicken and egg problem.
If you're interested, there's a brief history of faxing available on the Fax Online web site.
History Of Fax