Editor, Gazette-Journal:

Most of us are familiar with a man named Alexander Graham Bell. And many are familiar with some of his inventions. However, less is known about an inventor who was born around the same time as Mr. Bell who was also an inventor. His name was Emile Berliner.

Mr. Berliner was born on May 20, 1851 in Hanover, Germany. He, similarly, liked to experiment with “sound.” In 1870, he emigrated to the U.S. and settled in Washington, D.C., where he worked as a store clerk.

In 1876, he experimented with some of Mr. Bell’s inventions. Mr. Bell had just invented his crude form of a telephone. To Mr. Berliner, it still had many flaws and weaknesses. He perfected them. Mr. Berliner is also known for inventing the first microphone and the first record player. It was hand-cranked, but nevertheless, the world had never seen any of these types of inventions before.

By 1900, Mr. Berliner opened the first recording factories in England, France and Germany. And his brothe...