Katsudō Shashin is a filmstrip speculated to be the oldest work of animation in Japan. Three seconds long, it depicts a boy who writes "moving picture" in Japanese script, removes his hat, and waves. Discovered in a collection of films and projectors in Kyoto, its creator is unknown. Natsuki Matsumoto, an expert in iconography at the Osaka University of Arts, determined that it was most likely made before 1912. It may have been influenced by animated filmstrips for German cinematographs, devices that first appeared in Japan in 1904. Evidence suggests Katsudō Shashin was mass-produced to be sold to wealthy owners of home projectors. To Matsumoto, the relatively poor quality and low- tech printing technique indicate it was likely from a smaller film company. Unlike in traditional animation, the frames were not produced by photographing the images, but were impressed directly onto film. They were stencilled in red and black using a device for making magic lantern slides, and the filmstrip was fastened in a loop for continuous play.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katsud%C5%8D_Shashin

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1543:

King Henry VIII of England married Catherine Parr, his sixth and last wife, at Hampton Court Palace. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_Parr

1843:

Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, proclaimed a revelation recommending polygamy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_Latter_Day_Saint_polygamy

1920:

The Soviet–Lithuanian Peace Treaty was signed, with Soviet Russia agreeing to recognize an independent Lithuania. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet%E2%80%93Lithuanian_Peace_Treaty

1986:

The Homosexual Law Reform Act became law in New Zealand, decriminalising consensual homosexual sex. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexual_Law_Reform_Act_1986

2006:

Hezbollah forces crossed the Israel–Lebanon border and attacked Israeli military positions while firing rockets and mortars at Israeli towns, sparking a five-week war. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Hezbollah_cross-border_raid

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

until the cows come home: (idiomatic) For a very long period of time. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/until_the_cows_come_home

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

If you take all the machinery in the world and dump it in the ocean, within months more than half of all humanity will die and within another six months they’d almost all be gone; if you took all the politicians in the world, put them in a rocket, and sent them to the moon, everyone would get along fine.   --Buckminster Fuller https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Buckminster_Fuller