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A: London, England, United Kingdom

David Hughes Invents the Loose-Contact Carbon Microphone

1878
Hughes Carbon Microphone
"Crude carbon rod microphone invented by David Edward Hughes in 1878. It consists of a carbon rod (A) suspended by its pointed ends vertically between two metal electrodes (C). Sound vibrations transmitted from the wooden back (B) to the carbon-steel contact causes varying pressure on the carbon granules, causing variation in the carbon's resistance. Edwards found that the device was very sensitive, he was able hear the sound of a fly walking on it, and named it "microphone". Edwards did not invent the microphone but experimented with a wide range of "microphonic" electrical contacts. With another type of contact he discovered he could detect electromagnetic waves from a spark, thus inventing a type of coherer."

In 1878 English inventor David Edward Hughes, working in London, invented the loose-contact carbon microphone. Hughes's microphone was vital to telephony, and later to broadcasting and sound recording.

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