F. B. Fenby
Encyclopedia
F. B. Fenby was an inventor in Worcester, Massachusetts
, who was granted a patent in 1863 for an unsuccessful device called the “Electro-Magnetic Phonograph
”, making him the first to use the term "phonograph", even before Thomas Edison
. His concept detailed a system that would record a sequence of keyboard strokes onto paper tape. Although no model or workable device was ever made, it is often seen as a link to the concept of punched paper for player piano
rolls (1880s), as well as Herman Hollerith
's punch card tabulator (used in the 1890 census), a distant precursor to the modern computer
. Fenby was well known in his home town because he was both the fire chief and mayor. The acclaimed scientist would die in 1881, after a laceration he suffered while machining a punch card became infected and he was not hospitalized soon enough.
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....
, who was granted a patent in 1863 for an unsuccessful device called the “Electro-Magnetic Phonograph
Phonograph
The phonograph record player, or gramophone is a device introduced in 1877 that has had continued common use for reproducing sound recordings, although when first developed, the phonograph was used to both record and reproduce sounds...
”, making him the first to use the term "phonograph", even before Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. In addition, he created the world’s first industrial...
. His concept detailed a system that would record a sequence of keyboard strokes onto paper tape. Although no model or workable device was ever made, it is often seen as a link to the concept of punched paper for player piano
Player piano
A player piano is a self-playing piano, containing a pneumatic or electro-mechanical mechanism that operates the piano action via pre-programmed music perforated paper, or in rare instances, metallic rolls. The rise of the player piano grew with the rise of the mass-produced piano for the home in...
rolls (1880s), as well as Herman Hollerith
Herman Hollerith
Herman Hollerith was an American statistician who developed a mechanical tabulator based on punched cards to rapidly tabulate statistics from millions of pieces of data. He was the founder of one of the companies that later merged and became IBM.-Personal life:Hollerith was born in Buffalo, New...
's punch card tabulator (used in the 1890 census), a distant precursor to the modern computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
. Fenby was well known in his home town because he was both the fire chief and mayor. The acclaimed scientist would die in 1881, after a laceration he suffered while machining a punch card became infected and he was not hospitalized soon enough.