<Tr> <Th> Parent (s) </Th> <Td> Samuel and Sarah Fridman Berliner </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Awards </Th> <Td> Elliott Cresson Medal (1913) </Td> </Tr> <P> Emile Berliner (May 20, 1851--August 3, 1929), originally Emil Berliner, was a German - born American inventor . He is best known for inventing the flat disc phonograph record (called a gramophone record in British English and originally also in American English) and the Gramophone . He founded the United States Gramophone Company in 1894, The Gramophone Company in London, England, in 1897, Deutsche Grammophon in Hanover, Germany, in 1898, Berliner Gram - o - phone Company of Canada in Montreal in 1899 (chartered in 1904), and Victor Talking Machine Company in 1901 with Eldridge Johnson . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations . Please help to improve this section by introducing more precise citations. (April 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table>

Emile berliner's contribution to the sound recording industry was