Nicéphore Niépce Captures the First Photograph
November 1827
In a courtyard in Burgundy, Nicéphore Niépce exposed a pewter plate coated with bitumen to eight hours of sunlight and fixed, permanently, the rooftops and chimney visible from his window. The image was crude, ghostly, barely legible. It was also the oldest surviving photograph - the first time light had written its own portrait.
In context
Also in 1827 (3 other events on record)
- Treaty of London on Greek Independence · Europe · Politics
- Navarino Bay · Europe · War
- Beethoven Dies · Europe · Culture
Before and after in Europe
Before and after in Science
Era
Industrial Age (1801–1900), one of 513 events from that era on Saeculum.