Today in 1877, Scientific American published a note that started “Mr Thomas A. Edison recently came to this office, placed a little machine on our desk, turned a crank, and the machine inquired us to our health, asked how we liked the phonograph, informed us that it was very well and bid us a cordial goodnight.” Earlier that month, on December 6, Edison recorded his voice on the phonograph for the first time, reciting “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” Here is his re-enactment of that first recording. The Scientific American article ends with some delicious predictions, including: “It is already possible by ingenious optical contrivances to throw stereoscopic photographs of people on screens in full view of an audience. Add the talking phonograph to counterfelt their voices, and it would be difficult to carry the illusion of real presence much further.”