Emile Berliner

Emile Berliner (1851-1929) was a German-born inventor and researcher. In 1870 Berliner immigrated to the United States to Washington, D.C. to work in a dry goods store, Gotthelf, Behrend and Co., owned by a family friend. In 1873 Berliner moved New York City where he worked at several jobs including as a cleanup man in the laboratory of Constantine Fahlberg, who discovered saccharin. Through his experiences in the laboratory he became interested in invention.

Berliner's early inventions were related to the telephone and phonograph. He invented an improved telephone transmitter, and in 1877 he filed a caveat on his invention. The patent was acquired by the Bell Telephone Company, and Berliner moved to Boston to work for Bell Telephone. In 1883 he returned to Washington D.C. and continued his research.

In 1887 Berliner received a patent for a gramophone (a technology also being developed by Thomas Edison), and in 1888 he invented a method of recording sound on discs instead of wax or resin cylinders. In 1895 he created the Berliner Gramophone Company. Berliner and engineer Eldridge R. Johnson worked on perfecting a method of evenly rotating the discs on a turntable and in 1901 they founded the Victor Talking Machine Company.

Berliner's achievements include inventions in many diverse areas including acoustics, helicopters and combustion engines.