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The History of Special Effects (Click
on Text for more information)
 The ancestor to the film projector, magic lanterns became very popular to illusionists during the 1790s. An example is right below.  In 1895, the first paid motion picture show was staged. Thirty-two years later, sound entered the picture, and as we headed through the mid-point of the 20th century, color and added special effects found their way onto movie screens.
The
invention of limelight around 1820 provided a way to project much brighter
images from greater distances. This led to the use of magic lanterns for
presentations and educational purposes. This changed the magic lantern
from a secret tool of specialists to a well-known instrument.
An example is right below. 
Another technique of early illusionists was the use
of glass sheets as two-way mirrors. In an illusion that came to be known
as "Pepper's Ghost", after John Henry Pepper, a member of the
audience was turned into a skeleton and back. This was done by placing a
large glass sheet at a 45 degree angle between the audience and the stage,
and adjusting the lighting so that that audience would either see THROUGH
the glass to the person, or the REFLECTION in the glass of a skeleton off
stage. The lighting was faded in and out to make the transformation. This
technique was adopted later in early films, and a horde of
"ghost" movies were created using two-way mirror techniques.
An example of this technique is right below. 
With a background in mechanical engineering and building equipment, Robert W. Paul was commissioned to copy Thomas Edison's Kinetoscope. Although he originally refused, he was convinced to undertake the project because Edison had failed to obtain an international patent. This gave Paul a legal market for his work. In 1896, he had devised and built a film projector, which he sold in large numbers due to the Lumieres' restricted sales. In 1897 he built Europe's first film studio, complete with trap doors, a hanging bridge and dolly track on which to move his cameras. In 1905, he shot the short film The Motorist, which pioneered several special effects techniques. The film was about a couple that drove so fast that they escaped the Earth's gravity and travelled through the solar system before returning home. Despite his short-lived success, he dropped all cinema activities in 1910, sold his studio, and burnt all of his film stock. Apparently, he longed to return to mechanical invention and building equipment. A scene of the movie is right below. 
The greatest changes in the revolution of Special Effects happened in the 20th century, with computers. Computers helped revolutionized the world of Special Effects in movies. Now with computers we are able to create sceneries we would never think possible. With the help of computers we can create people, buildings, animals, monsters, aliens, and many other creations. Our creations in the computers can come out to life with a touch of a button. Special Effects have gone to the extreme with the use of computers. We could even build and resink the "Titanic" with the use of computers.
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