Switched has a new home! Huffpost Tech.

Click here to visit the new home of Switched!

Hot on HuffPost Tech:

See More Stories
AOL Tech

Library of Congress Posts Historic Videos on YouTube

by Peter Mychalcewycz on April 8, 2009 at 06:09 PM


Man, the Library of Congress is really in love with old film clips and history and stuff.

In the last two months, the Library of Congress has posted 41 vintage video clips on its YouTube channel, and more are surely on the way. One of the most viewed and discussed clips is a simple, 30-second offering from Edison's New Jersey Studio. Shot in 1891 onto 3/4-inch-wide film with the Edison-Dickson-Heise -- an experimental, horizontal-feed, kinetograph camera -- 'Newark Athlete' is simply a film of a boy standing and swinging a set of Indian clubs. While the subject of the film is less than noteworthy, the fact that it is believed to be the oldest extant offering from Edison's New Jersey Studio makes this piece historically significant.

If you enjoy history, but need something a little more action-packed to hold your attention, check out the other near-century-old videos offered on the Library's YouTube page. We have a feeling, if nothing else, that the 38-second clip of boxing cats will elicit a squeal of appreciation (although we have to say that the cats do not appear to be enjoying their exploitation). [From: BetaNews]


Related Links:

Tags: edison, film history, FilmHistory, history, library of congress, LibraryOfCongress

Add your comments

Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.

When you enter your name and email address, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.

To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br /> tags.

HuffPost AOL Social News Most Popular