Land Demonstrates Instant Camera: Polaroid Is Born
Edwin Land's daughter asked why she couldn't see a photo right away. He spent three hours walking around Santa Fe working out the chemistry in his head. Three years later, he stood in front of the Optical Society of America and took a picture. Sixty seconds later, he peeled apart the print and showed them a finished photograph. The camera had to develop the image inside itself while you held it. Kodak thought it was a gimmick. Land sold 900 cameras the first day they went on sale.
February 21, 1947
79 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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