This week in 1860 – the oldest known recording of an audible human voice was made on the phonautograph machine by its French Inventor.
1892 – Voters in Lockport, NY became the first in the U.S. to use voting machines.
1894 – The kinetoscope was demonstrated by its inventor, Thomas Alva Edison, in New York City. A viewer that held 50 feet of film — about 13 seconds worth — showed images of Annie Oakley and Buffalo Bill.
1956 – Ampex Corporation of Redwood City, CA demonstrated the first commercial magnetic tape recorder for sound and picture. The videotape machine had a price tag of $75,000. These early Ampex units were too large to fit in a small room.
And this week in 1984 – Challenger astronauts made the first satellite repair in orbit by returning a healthy Solar Max satellite to space. The orbiting sun watcher had been circling the Earth for three years with all circuits dead before repairs were made.