the movie movement By early 1920, Hollywood was famous and people were flaunting over movie stars and flocking to theaters. Movie theaters popped up all over the country and an estimated average of 50 million people a week went to the movies. Theaters were luxurious, with red velvet seats and big screens with high ceilings and chandeliers. The movies were fun and provided an escape from the day to day troubles of life.
The motion picture movement began with the American inventor Thomas Edison, who began making short motion pictures at the turn of the 19th century. Most movies during the 1920s were produced on the West Coast, in or near Hollywood, however some were produced in New Jersey and New York. In 1903 the movie "The Great Train Robbery" was the first motion picture to have a complete story. By the 1920s film makers were creating a variety of different types of movies ranging from long, serious movies like D. W. Griffith's "Birth of a Nation", to lighthearted comedic films. Later, the movie industry was revolutionized again in 1925-1926 with the inventions of Vitaphone, Movietone, synchronized sound systems, which gave filmmakers the ability to synchronize sound to their movies. The Jazz Singer, directed by Alan Crosland became the first feature-length talkie (film with dialogue) on October 6, 1927. This movie revolutionized motion pictures forever and officially began the sound era of motion pictures. |
The radio The radio era began with italian inventor Guglielmo. Guglielmo Marconi began his experiments in Italy, where he lived in the late 1800s. He did not receive much support of his work in Italy, so he went to London in 1896. In England in 1896 he received his first patent and by 1899 the Marconi Telegraph Company was founded. Then in 1901 Marconi successfully transmitted wireless signals across the Atlantic. The first wireless message across the ocean was sent from Cornwall, England and received in a military base in Newfoundland. This was the beginning of the radio. On November 2, 1920 the first radio station, KDKA, made the first radio broadcast, in which they announced that Warren Harding had won the presidential election. The radio soon spread across Europe and the United States, and became a household necessity. By 1922 there were over 600 radio stations globally and by 1923 nearly 3 million people owned radios.
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