On a summer day in 1846 at London’s grand Egyptian Hall, Joseph Faber unveiled one of the strangest inventions to come out of the 19th century’s technological boom. For one shilling a head, spectators were ushered into a dimly lit back room to see the Euphonia, a machine that boasted the ability to replicate human speech.
In the middle of the disheveled chamber sat a piano-like instrument topped with a female automaton whose face, framed with ringlet curls, stared vacantly into the crowd. Professor Faber, a shy German astronomer-turned-inventor, stood behind the keys of his device hoping desperately that…
Source: Text-To-Speech in 1846 Involved a Talking Robotic Head With Ringlets | Atlas Obscura
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