Thomas Edison invented the original phonograph in 1877, the first device in history to capture sound in a way that allowed it to be played back later. The very first recording on the device was Edison himself reciting a few lines from the nursery rhyme, “Mary Had a Little Lamb.”

The original phonograph was cheap and disposable, using tinfoil wrapped around a metal cylinder. Within 10 years, Edison perfected his design into the solid wax cylinder, which was more durable and of higher quality.

One of his first orders of business was to send an employee across Europe, armed with several of these phonographs, to capture the voices of some of the most powerful and influential figures. For the very first time.

The most interesting and oldest voice Edison captured belonged to Helmuth von Moltke

Edison chose his laboratory assistant, Theo Wangemann, for the task.

In 1889, Wangemann visited Germany and sat with........

© Upworthy