Emile Berliner

The eminent inventor breathed his last on August 3, 1929 in Washington DC. His death was caused by a heart attack and he was interred at the ‘Rock Creek Cemetry’.

Emile Berliner was born to parents Samuel and Sarah Fridman Berliner on May 20, 1851 in the Hanover city of Germany. The Berliners’ were a large family with eleven children and while Samuel was a teacher of religious texts Sarah specialised in music.

Emile completed his studies from schools in Hanover, Wolfenbuttel and Samsonschule, in the year 1865.

After completing his training to become a merchant, he started work as an accountant. Though he was passionate about inventing new objects and solving problems, his financial conditions prohibited him from pursuing his dreams.

He left the war torn country and landed in Washington D.C., United States in 1870. In the new city he worked a clerical job at ‘Gotthelf, Behrend and Co’, which was partially owned by his friend’s father.

In 1873, he moved to the New York City and worked odd jobs during the day to make ends meet. At night,Emile attended the ‘Cooper Union Institute’ where he studied subjects like physics.

During the period 1873-76, he worked as a travelling salesman for a clothing retailer in the city of Milwaukee for a while and then returned to New York to work as a cleaning person in the office of renowned chemist Constantin Fahlberg. It was this exposure to the world of scientific research that fuelled his desire to take up a career in this field.

In 1876, Berliner shifted back to Washington and re-joined ‘Gotthelf, Behrend and Co’ as a clerk. It was during the same time that Alexander Graham Bell was credited with the invention of telephone. The instrument piqued the interest of Berliner and he set about studying the device.

Berliner is credited with many significant inventions but his invaluable contribution was the invention of gramophone which heralded a new era in the world of sound recording. Another of his invention that revolutionized the aviation industry was the light weight IC engine which could successfully power the rotors of a helicopter.