1896 in film

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Events

January - In Britain, Birt Acres and Robert W. Paul developed their own film projector, the Theatrograph (later known as the Animatograph).
January - In the United States, a projector called the Vitascope was designed by Charles Francis Jenkins and Thomas Armat. Armat began working with Thomas Edison to manufacture the Vitascope, which projected motion pictures.
Pathé Frères film company founded
April - Thomas Edison and Thomas Armat's Vitascope is used to project motion pictures in public screenings in New York City
May 14 - Tsar Nicholas II of Russia crowned in Moscow, in the first coronation ever recorded in film.
French magician and filmmaker Georges Méliès begins experimenting with the new motion picture technology, developing early special effects techniques, including stop-motion photography.
William Selig founded the Selig Polyscope Company in Chicago.
Demeny-Gaumont works on a 60 mm format, first known as Biographe (unperforated), then Chronophotographe (perforated).
Casimir Sivan and E. Dalphin create a 38 mm format.