June 21: 33-1/3

The first successfully engineered long-playing record was unveiled to the public at the Waldorf Astoria on this date in 1948. Made of nonbreakable vinyl plastic and designed for the new speed of 33-1/3 revolutions-per-minute, the LP was the creation of a team led by Dr. Peter Carl Goldmark of Columbia Records. LPs presented up to 40 minutes of music, which made possible the modern record album. Goldmark, an immigrant from Hungary, also developed the first color television technology, an early electronic video recorder, and nearly 160 other inventions in communications technology. President Jimmy Carter presented him with the National Medal of Science in 1977. “The average LP has about 1,500 feet (460 m) of groove on each side, or about a third of a mile.” —Wikipedia