The Magic Lantern

The Magic Lantern is also known as the "Laterna Magica" and was an early method of image projection, created in the 16th century and was used mainly for education and entertainment. It was most likely invented by Dutch Scientist, Christiaan Huygens. Light would be directed through the lantern slide, where the image would be placed. The image would normally be a photograph or a painting. There were a few down falls to this..sadly. At the time of invention, there were limited sources of lighting, such as candles and oil lamps which weren't very efficient. However the invention of the Argand Lamp in the 1790's did help.

The Magic Lantern is a direct ancestor of the Motion Picture Projector, and could also be used to show moving pictures and not just separate images. Two slides would be placed over one another, one image being stationary and the other being the moving image. They would be projected at the same time, and the second image would be moved with a device to tell the story. 

Im pretty fascinated by this invention, because to be honest its so old! I had never really done much research on this before, so I was really interested in finding out more. Its amazing how this invention has evolved over the years into something that is in some ways, taken for granted.