zoetrope

Who invented the zoetrope and when?

William Horner invented the zoetrope in 1834 in England. He called it the ‘daedalum’ (the wheel of the devil). It didn’t become popular until the 1860’s when the makers in both England and America patented it. The American developer William F. Lincoln named his toy the ‘zoetrope’, which means ‘wheel of life’

 

William Horner                William F. Lincoln

 

What did the zoetrope do/how did it work?

The zoetrope worked on the same principles as the phenakistiscope, but the pictures were drawn on a strip which could be set around the bottom third of a metal drum. The drum was mounted on a spindle so that it could be spun, and viewers looking through the slits would see the cartoon strip from a moving image. The faster the drum is spun, the smoother the image that is produced.