July 13, 1937: Gibson Plugs In the Electric Guitar

"1937: Guy Hart, general manager of the Gibson guitar company, is awarded the first patent for an electric guitar pickup. The instrument that defines popular music in the second half of the 20th century is born.

Gibson’s electric guitar wasn’t the first to market, but its pickup design was superior to competing models — especially after guitar-makers begin dropping them into their new, innovative designs more than a decade later."
via Wired.com / continue reading