The Soapbox Mafia

This dude invented the camera.

"Muybridge's skills as a photographer came to the attention of Leland Stanford, a railroad baron and former Governor of California. Stanford hired Muybridge to help him settle a bet -- that when a horse gallops all four of its feet leave the ground at least once. In early 1872, Muybridge arranged a series of cameras along a path, with each camera shutter attached to a trip wire laid across the path; as the horse galloped down the path it broke each trip wire in turn, thus producing a series of still pictures. By May of 1872 Muybridge had succeeded in creating a reasonably good silhouette that indeed showed all four of the horse's feet off the ground at one time, but the photograph's quality was mediocre at best. Stanford wanted a photograph that would settle the bet once and for all, so he agreed to provide the funds necessary for Muybridge to improve his methods."

I like this story.