[78-L] Earliest born to record (was Engraved records)

[Kristjan Saag]

DAVID BURNHAM wrote:

> I just came across an interesting record.  It's a speech by Leo Tolstoy./ 
> snip/
> Since Tolstoy was born in 1828, this is probably the oldest recorded 
> person I have on
> records, (he shared the planet with Schubert, Mendelssohn, Chopin, 
> Schumann, etc).
> Previously the oldest one I knew of was Josef Joachim, but he was three 
> years younger.
----
Mike Biel has pointed out that Hungarian politician Lajos Kossuth, born 
1802, was the oldest.
Here's from Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lajos_Kossuth

> In 1890, a delegation of Hungarian pilgrims in Turin recorded a short 
> patriotic speech
> delivered by the elderly Lajos Kossuth. The original recording on two wax 
> cylinders for the
> Edison phonograph survives to this day, although barely audible due to 
> excess playback and > unsuccessful early restoration attempts. Lajos 
> Kossuth is the earliest born person in the world > who has his voice 
> preserved.

And here's the voice:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_SBwVB83WU

Kristjan