Franz von Uchatius

Who was Franz von Uchatius?

Franz von Uchatius was an Austrian artillery general and inventor. His inventions included both military applications and pioneer work in cinematography.

He invented a motion picture projector in 1853, developing it over the years from 1845 from the device then called stroboscope and phenakistiscope. This was the first example of projected animation, demonstrated in 1853; it is also described as the combination of the zoetrope with the magic lantern. It was called the kinetoscope, a term later used by Thomas Edison. He applied it to lecture on ballistics.

He worked also on a smokeless powder, improved cannons and alloys, and a balloon bomb, used in 1849 against Venice, sent up from a paddle steamer. Uchatius steel was produced industrially, by mixing granulated iron with iron oxide.