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This Saturday, the Historic District’s “52 Weeks of Firsts” celebrates the first public showing of a motion picture 156 years ago, an activity that today has become so ubiquitous in our daily lives and habits.
To quote Nicole Kidman’s memorable AMC ad, we come to the movie theaters for the magic of “dazzling images, on a huge silver screen,” taking us “somewhere we’ve never been before; not just entertained, but somehow reborn. Together.”
And the world’s cinephiles have inventor Henry Renno Heyl and Philly to thank for that.
Heyl displayed one of the first demonstrations of a projected moving picture to an audience of around 1,500 at the Academy of Music on Feb. 5, 1870.
“(Heyl) was looking at pictures and he’s like, ‘It would be great if they could move.’” said Andrew Greenblatt, CEO of the Philadelphia Film Society. “So he looked at the children’s toy, the zoetrope, and he designed his own model for pictures called the phasmatrope.”
The phasmatrope was a geared disc loaded with sequential glass slides with images on them. When spun by a hand crank in front of a lantern projector, it cast a moving image onto a screen.
Heyl made three sequences of glass discs to show sequences that lasted only a couple seconds and paired their playing with a live orchestra and a voice actor. One showed a Japanese acrobat, another showed a character named Brother Jonathan and the third showed Heyl dancing with a relative.
The crowd was reportedly wowed and he was hailed by the newspapers of the time as the “originator of motion pictures.”
Like the length of the films though, Heyl’s interest in the project was fleeting. After just one encore presentation at the Franklin Institute the following March, he moved on to other inventions, never patenting the phasmatrope.
“He liked finding problems, finding things he was interested in, coming up with a solution, and then moving on,” Greenblatt said.
Heyl did go on to create another ubiquitous item in our modern lives, albeit not one that Kidman will be waxing lyrically about: the first modern stapler.
The free Firstival will take place Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Philadelphia Film Society (1412 Chestnut St.). It coincides with the 35th annual Philadelphia Film Festival, which runs until Sunday.
Along with family-friendly entertainment for the ‘Firsties’ who have followed this year’s festivities, the event features a Historic Philly Once Upon a Nation storyteller recounting Heyl’s achievement.There will also be the week’s No. 1 statue on display, painted by local artist Ava Haitz.
No. 1 statue for the first public showing of a motion picture, painted by artist Ava Haitz. (Colibrí Workshop/Courtesy of Philadelphia Historic District) 
No. 1 statue for the first public showing of a motion picture, painted by artist Ava Haitz. (Colibrí Workshop/Courtesy of Philadelphia Historic District) 
No. 1 statue for the first public showing of a motion picture, painted by artist Ava Haitz. (Colibrí Workshop/Courtesy of Philadelphia Historic District) 
No. 1 statue for the first public showing of a motion picture, painted by artist Ava Haitz. (Colibrí Workshop/Courtesy of Philadelphia Historic District)
Here’s the full list of this year’s Firstivals – including the upcoming dates and locations.
Completed
Week 1: Successful balloon flight in America (1793)
Week 2: The Mummers parade, the nation’s first folk parade (1901)
Week 3: Volunteer fire company (1736)
Week 4: Professional basketball league (1898)
Week 5: Public Girl Scout cookie sale (1932)
Week 6: African Methodist Episcopal congregation (1794)
Week 7: Abolitionist society in America (1775)
Week 8: Authentic Chinese gate built in America (1984)
Week 9: Public protest against slavery in America (1688)
Week 10: Flower Show (1829)
Week 11: Women’s medical college (1850)
Week 12: Matchbook (1892)
Week 13: Medical school (1765)
Week 14: Stadium (1895)
Week 15: Circus performance (1793)
Week 16: Botanical garden (1728)
Week 17: Postmaster (1737)
Week 18: American-made piano and sousaphone (1775 and 1893)
Week 19: Mother’s Day (1908)
Week 20: Hospital in America (1751)
Week 21: World’s Fair on American soil (1876)
Week 22: Steamboat for passengers and freight (1787)
Week 23: American flag (1777)
Week 24: U.S. Army (1775)
Week 25: Annual Reminder demonstration (1965)
Week 26: Paper maker in America (1690)
Week 27: Bank of the United States (1791)
Week 28: Organized baseball team (1831)
Week 29: Ice cream soda (Oct. 1874)
Week 30: American art school (1805)
Week 31: Scientific Society of Natural History (1812)
Week 31: Zoo in America (1874)
Week 32: U.S. Mint (1793)
Week 33: Selfie (1839)
Week 34: Slinky (1943)
Week 35: Signing of the Constitution (1787)
Week 36: Continental Congress (1774)
Week 37: Naming of the United States (1776)
Week 38: Ronald McDonald House (1974)
Week 39: Penitentiary in America (1829)
Week 40: First peoples
Week 50: U.S. Navy and Marine Corps (1775)
Upcoming
• Public showing of a motion picture (1870)
Oct. 24, Philadelphia Film Society, 1412 Chestnut St.
• Modern detective story written (1841)
Oct. 31, Edgar Allan Poe House, 532 N. 7th St.
• Thanksgiving Day parade in America (1920)
Nov. 7, Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History, 101 S. Independence Mall East
• University in America (1740)
Nov. 14, Houston Hall, The University of Pennsylvania, 3417 Spruce St.
• Children’s hospital in America (1855)
Nov. 21, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Main Building, 3401 Civic Center Blvd.
• Pencil with an attached eraser (1858)
Nov. 28, National Liberty Museum, 321 Chestnut St.
• Weather bureau (1870)
Dec. 5, The Franklin Institute, 222 N. 20th St.
• Electronic computer (1945)
Dec. 12, The University of Pennsylvania, 3451 Walnut St.
• Public lending library in America (1731)
Dec. 19, The Library Company of Philadelphia, 1314 Locust St.
• Philly food firsts: Cheesesteaks (1930s), water ice (1932) and bubble gum (1928)
Dec. 26, Reading Terminal Market, 1136 Arch St.
