Thanks to researchers armed with current technology, Thomas Edison's contribution to recorded sound will need to be clarified a bit. He is still the first person to have reproduced sound; that is, record it and play it back. However, he is no longer the first person to have actually recorded sound. That honor now goes to Parisian inventor,
Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville:
An "ethereal" 10 second clip of a woman singing a French folk song has been played for the first time in 150 years.
The recording of "Au Clair de la Lune", recorded in 1860, is thought to be the oldest known recorded human voice.
A phonograph of Thomas Edison singing a children's song in 1877 was previously thought to be the oldest record.
The new "phonautograph", created by etching soot-covered paper, has now been played by US scientists using a "virtual stylus" to read the lines.
Below is the actual clip that was digitally brought to life. If the clip sounds too fast, then please go to
FirstSounds to listen to the MP3.
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