Before Spotify Premium there was the Electrophone. Invented in Britain in the 1890s, this subscription service (extravagant at £5 a year) allowed customers to dial in to a switchboard and be connected to a live performance from theatres across London. Cutting-edge stuff in a pre-radio world – and the headsets, complete with natty holding pole, were the Beats by Dr. Dre of their day.
But that’s nothing compared to the genius of French engineer Ernest Mercadier, who was awarded a patent for the first ever in-ear headphones in 1891. Designed to be used by telephonists, they even boasted earbuds to block out external sounds.
Read more at http://www.stuff.tv/features/headphones-complete-history#bLysvS2E2sxvp6IK.99