- For the American Chemistry Professor, see Frank L. Lambert
Francois Lambert (13 June 1851 – 1937) was a French American inventor. Lambert was born in Lyon, France and then moved to the United States in 1876 and became a citizen in 1893. Lambert is currently in the Guinness World Book of Records for the oldest playable recording on a machine called the Phonograph. Lambert was also famous for inventing the modern typewriter.
Work
Twelve years after arriving in the U.S., Lambert started a water meter company (The Thomson Water Meter Co.) with a friend called John Thomson. Whilst holding his company, Lambert then built his own Phonograph. The Phonograph is a recording device and Lambert recorded the oldest ever recording (Experimental Talking Clock) on his original. Lambert then had completed his main invention, today's typewriter and then sold it to the Gramophone Co. Ltd., for which he received USD$20,000. The typewriter started becoming very popular in the 1900s. Lambert's water meter company was sold outright to the Neptune Water Meter Co. and Lambert received USD$800,000.
Personal Life
Lambert married twice, firstly with Jeanne-Marie Donval (whom he had five children with) who died from an unknown cause and then married Jeannette Justine Lawson Ebbs. When Lambert died in 1937, he left his estate to his second wife, USD$20,000 to his daughter Jeanne and USD$30,000 to his only grandchild, Martha.
External links
- The Oldest Playable Recording [1]
- Information on Lambert's Phonograph [2]
- Description of Lambert's typewriter [3]
