28 December 1895: The Lumiere brothers sell the first movie tickets

Auguste and Louis Lumiere held what is widely considered the first commercial public film screening at the Grand Cafe in Paris, charging admission to watch ten short films. Audiences were amazed by moving pictures of everyday scenes. The Lumieres reportedly thought cinema had little future. The industry they helped launch would go on to create Hollywood studios, movie theater chains and, eventually, streaming giants.

The lesson: Inventors often underestimate their own inventions; markets find uses nobody planned.