Léon Theremin, Russian physicist and engineer, invented the Theremin (d. 1993)
Leon Theremin (born Lev Sergeyevich Termen Russian: Лев Сергеевич Термéн, IPA: [ˈlʲef sʲɪrˈɡʲejɪvʲɪtɕ tɨrˈmʲen]; 27 August [O.S. 15 August] 1896 – 3 November 1993) was a Russian and Soviet inventor, most famous for his invention of the theremin, one of the first electronic musical instruments and the first to be mass-produced. He also worked on early television research. His listening device, "The Thing", hung for seven years in plain view in the United States Ambassador's Moscow office and enabled Soviet agents to eavesdrop on secret conversations.
1896Aug, 27
Léon Theremin
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Events on 1896
- 28Jan
Speed limit
Walter Arnold of East Peckham, Kent, becomes the first person to be convicted of speeding. He was fined one shilling, plus costs, for speeding at 8 mph (13 km/h), thereby exceeding the contemporary speed limit of 2 mph (3.2 km/h). - 6Apr
1896 Summer Olympics
In Athens, the opening of the first modern Olympic Games is celebrated, 1,500 years after the original games are banned by Roman emperor Theodosius I. - 26May
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Charles Dow publishes the first edition of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. - 16Aug
Klondike Gold Rush
Skookum Jim Mason, George Carmack and Dawson Charlie discover gold in a tributary of the Klondike River in Canada, setting off the Klondike Gold Rush. - 21Sep
Horatio Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener
Mahdist War: British forces under the command of Horatio Kitchener takes Dongola in the Sudan.