On November 26, 1948, the first “Land Camera”—better known
today as the instant Polaroid camera—went on sale at Jordan
Marsh department store in Boston for $89.75.

The invention of Edwin H. Land, who had enrolled at Harvard
to study physics in 1926, but dropped out to conduct his own
research, becomes an instant hit and sells out within minutes
that first day.

The camera, dubbed Model 95A, debuted the technology of
instant photography decades before modern digital photos.

Edwin Herbert Land (May 7, 1909 – March 1, 1991)       
        
        
       

Now, retro-style Polaroid cameras are made and sold
today, for people who love the nostalgic feel of instant-
yet-still-physical photography that pre-dates the internet
and cell phone era.

 
CAMILLE BOHANNON

GEORGE EASTMAN (1854 – 1932)

Founder of the Eastman Kodak Company,
whose invention of roll film popularized
amateur photography for the masses.

On December 28, 1895, the world’s first commercial movie
screening took place at the Grand Cafe in Paris. The film
was made by Louis and Auguste Lumière, two French
brothers who developed a camera-projector called the
Cinematographe.

On December 28, the entrepreneurial siblings screened a 
series of short scenes from everyday French life and they
charged admission for the first time.

       
        
        
        
       
Brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière, the fathers of
cinema.        

The brothers developed a combination movie camera
and projecting, capable of projecting images on a
screen to be seen by audiences.

    

Robert Cornelius (March 1, 1809 – August 10, 1893)
was a photographer and pioneer in the history of
photography.

He designed the photographic plate for the first
photograph taken in the United States, an image
of Central High School taken by Joseph Saxton in
1839.

His self image taken in 1839 is the first known
photographic portrait of a person taken in the
United States. He operated two of the earliest
photography studios in the United States
between 1841 and 1843 and implemented
innovative techniques to significantly reduce
the exposure time required for portraits.