Emile Berliner

Lore & Background

Berliner was born into a Jewish merchant family in Hanover, Germany, and worked as a clerk and studied before migrating. To avoid being drafted in the Franco-Prussian War, he migrated to the United States in 1870, working in a shop in Washington, D.C., and later moving to New York, where he studied physics at night at the Cooper Union Institute while doing temporary work. After working in a livery stable, he became interested in telephone and phonograph technology and invented an improved telephone transmitter, one of the first microphones. The patent was acquired by the Bell Telephone Company but contested by Thomas Edison; in 1901, a U.S. Court of Appeals upheld Berliner's patent, not voiding it, and the ruling did not award Edison full rights.

In 1890, a Berliner licensee in Germany manufactured a toy Gramophone and five-inch hard rubber discs, but due to pending U.S. patents, they were sold only in Europe. In 1893, Berliner persuaded investors to provide $25,000 to start the United States Gramophone Company. He also developed a rotary engine and an early version of the helicopter. According to a July 1, 1909, New York Times report, a helicopter built by Berliner and J. Newton Williams lifted Williams from the ground on June 29, 1909, during a single test with multiple lifts at Berliner's laboratory in Washington, D.C. Between 1907 and 1926, Berliner worked on vertical flight technologies, including a lightweight rotary engine developed with Fay Oliver Farwell and R.S. Moore. In 1909, he founded the Gyro Motor Company in Washington, D.C., to develop rotary engines for aviation. On June 16, 1922, Berliner and his son Henry demonstrated a helicopter for the U.S. Navy's Bureau of Aeronautics. Henry became disillusioned with helicopters in 1925, and the company shut down.

Reader's Guide

Emile Berliner's significance lies primarily in his invention of the lateral-cut flat disc record, which became the standard medium for recorded sound in the 20th century. By founding the United States Gramophone Company in 1894, he established a commercial foundation for the music recording industry. His earlier work on the telephone transmitter, though ultimately overshadowed by Thomas Edison's prior claims, contributed to the development of microphone technology. Berliner also made notable contributions to early aviation, particularly in helicopter design, including experiments with a vertically mounted tail rotor to counteract torque—a configuration that led to practical helicopters in the 1940s. His rotary engine innovations and the founding of the Gyro Motor Company advanced vertical flight research. Beyond technology, Berliner advocated for public health and women's equality, and in 1908 established the Sarah Berliner Research Fellowship in honor of his mother. His legacy endures in the gramophone record, the helicopter rotor design, and his entrepreneurial role in the early audio industry.

Did You Know?

• Berliner migrated to the United States in 1870 to avoid being drafted in the Franco-Prussian War.
• He invented an improved telephone transmitter, and a 1901 court ruling upheld his patent, not awarding full rights to Thomas Edison.
• Berliner founded the Gyro Motor Company in Washington, D.C., in 1909 to develop rotary engines for aviation.
• He established the Sarah Berliner Research Fellowship in 1908 in honor of his mother.
• Berliner's lightweight rotary engine was developed with Fay Oliver Farwell and R.S. Moore.