On this day: 28 December 1895

The Lumière brothers held the first public screening of films for which admission was charged, at the Grand Café in Paris. The programme featured 10 films, each lasting up to 50 seconds, beginning with Sortie des Usines Lumière à Lyon (Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory in Lyon) and including the first piece of slapstick to be captured on film, Le Jardinier (L’Arroseur arrosé) (The Gardener, or the Sprinkler Sprinkled). In the New Year they took the show on a tour that visited Bombay, London, Montreal, New York, and Buenos Aires. Chris Maume