Phantoscope

Article summary

1896 The Phantoscope was a film projection machine, a creation of Charles Francis Jenkins and Thomas Armat. In the early 1890s, Jenkins began creating the projector. He later met Thomas Armat, who provided financial backing and assisted with necessary modifications. On September 25, 1895, Jenkins and Armat began the presentation of their completed Phantoscopes at the Cotton States Exposition in Atlanta, Georgia. Their presentation continued for the next eighteen days, during which the increased strain causes conflicts. Tensions escalated when, on October 13, Jenkins borrowed one of their three completed Phantoscopes. He intended to present the invention in his hometown of Indiana, and promised to return the machine by October 25. He did not, and instead, remained in Indiana. Armat decided to leave the exhibit with their remaining Phantoscope, after a fire destroyed several exhibits and another of their Phantoscopes. What followed was a lengthy court battle in which Jenkins sought a solo patent, but was denied, resulting in Jenkins receiving a solo patent for his initial projector and Armat for the modified version. After the issue was settled, Armat sold his patent to Thomas Alva Edison.…

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