J.R.’s answer to “What mystery in your own life could be a plot for a book?” > Likes and Comments

Great answer. It reminded me of the case of Louis Le Prince, one of the early experimenters in motion pictures. Le Prince disappeared from a Paris bound train in 1890, and the case remains unsolved. What adds to the mystery is the fact that he was a rival of Thomas Edison, and was about to give a public demonstration of his camera. The following is from Wikipedia:
"He (Le Prince) was never able to perform a planned public demonstration in the US because he mysteriously vanished from a train on 16 September 1890.[1] His body and luggage were never found, but, over a century later, a police archive was found to contain a photograph of a drowned man who could have been him.[5] Not long after Le Prince's disappearance, Thomas Edison tried to take credit for the invention. But Le Prince’s widow and son, Adolphe, were keen to advance his cause as the inventor of cinematography. In 1898 Adolphe appeared as a witness for the defence in a court case brought by Edison against the American Mutoscope Company. (The suit claimed that Edison was the first and sole inventor of cinematography, and thus entitled to royalties for the use of the process). Adolphe Le Prince was not allowed to present his father's two cameras as evidence (and so establish Le Prince’s prior claim as inventor) and eventually the court ruled in favour of Edison. However, a year later that ruling was overturned.[6]"

Yes, I've heard this story. It's especially interesting to me since Edison spent some time in my area of Pennsylvania and some buildings (churches and a hotel) were the first to be electrified. Thanks for commenting.

What a fascinating story!

Thanks, Pamela.