On this day in 1878, Thomas Edison patented the phonograph, the first voice recorder. In 1877, the invention began using a combination of the phonautograph, the telegraph and the telephone. Edison’s goal was to transcribe messages from the telegraph to a piece of paper tape. The transcribed messages would then be in a format that allowed the individual to send out the same message repeatedly via a telegraph. After Edison realized that his device may have other applications in relation to the tel