Headphones have become such a vital part for every day life. Without them, the morning commute would be terrible. Walking home from school or work would almost be unbearable. Flying planes would be completely miserable. How else are we supposed to watch movies on those long flights?
With headphones being such an important part of life, we wondered where they started. We found that the first pair of headphones were made in 1910. Here's the full story:
1910:
A man by the name of Nathaniel Baldwin designed the first prototype for headphones. He sent his prototype to Lieutenant Commander A.J. Hepburn of the U.S. Navy. The commander requested for hundreds to be made for radio communication. So, the first wave of headphones were used for radio communications, not music. Baldwin may have helped the U.S. win a few wars with his technology. By the way, Baldwin was making these from his kitchen.
1958:
Up until 1958, headphones were just being used for radio communications. John Koss introduced the first pair of headphones that would be meant for listening to music- the SP3 Stereophones. Koss's company still makes headphones today.
1979:
Sony releases the 'Walkman.' The headphone shrinks and music becomes portable.
1989:
While on a flight from Zurich, a man by the name of Dr. Amar Bose notices that he can't really hear his headphones on the plane. There is too much noise coming from the cot pit This gave him the idea to create noise cancelling headphones. Bose founds the Noise Reduction Technology group and introduces the first pair of headphones that block outside noise.
2001:
Apple introduces the iPod with its signature earbuds (Keep in mind what we said about earbuds in our previous article).
2008:
Dr.Dre introduces Beats by Dre.
2015:
Paww introduces a pair of headphones that trumps its predecessors- Paww Wavesound 2. To dwarf its competition, these headphones were built to be wireless. It's battery lasts a whopping 36 hours (3x longer than wireless headphones by Beats), and it has noise cancelling technology. It incorporates highly sensitive microphones which capture ambient noise, which is then reversed using patented technology, for a whisper quiet experience.
via Mashable
