We told you about how Eadweard Muybridge came up with the first set of moving photographs, which started the age of motion pictures. But way before that, we had animation, or moving drawings. There were quite a few gadgets in the 19th century that produced these moving pictures: the optical toys known as the Thaumatrope, the Phenakistoscope, the Zoetrope, the Praxinoscope, and more. Richard Balzer, a collector of early optical toys, takes us through their history and development in a delightful article at Collector's Weekly. Link
(Image credit: The Richard Balzer Collection)