1896

Events

 * January - In Britain, Birt Acres and Robert W. Paul developed their own film projector, the Theatrograph (later known as the Animatograph).
 * January - In the United States, a projector called the Vitascope was designed by Charles Francis Jenkins and Thomas Armat. Armat began working with Thomas Edison to manufacture the Vitascope, which projected motion pictures.
 * Pathé Frères film company founded
 * April - Thomas Edison and Thomas Armat's Vitascope is used to project motion pictures in public screenings in New York City
 * May 14 - Tsar Nicholas II of Russia crowned in Moscow, in the first coronation ever recorded in film.
 * French magician and filmmaker Georges Méliès begins experimenting with the new motion picture technology, developing early special effects techniques, including stop-motion photography.
 * William Selig founded the Selig Polyscope Company in Chicago.
 * Demeny-Gaumont works on a 60 mm format, first known as Biographe (unperforated), then Chronophotographe (perforated).
 * Casimir Sivan and E. Dalphin create a 38 mm format.

Films released in 1896

 * Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat
 * Arrivée d'un train gare de Vincennes
 * L'Arroseur
 * Awakening of Rip
 * Baignade en mer
 * La Fée aux Choux
 * The Horse Trough
 * The Kiss
 * Le Manoir du diable
 * Rip Van Winkle (series)
 * The Vanishing Lady

Births

 * January 20 - Isabel Withers, actress (d. 1968)
 * June 28 - Constance Binney, actress, singer, dancer (d. 1989)
 * July 16 - Evelyn Preer, pioneering African-American actress, singer (d. 1932)
 * August 18 - Jack Pickford, actor (d. 1933)
 * August 30 - Raymond Massey, actor (d. 1983)

1896 1896 1896 1896