reported by Brian Scott, CyberScreenwriter.com

For decades, going to the movies has been one of the most popular ways people all across the country enjoy themselves.

The first time an American audience sat down to watch a motion picture was this week in 1896, at the Koster and Bials Hall in New York City. It was not the kind of feature film today's audiences are used to ?- it was more a novelty at the end of a live vaudeville show, showcasing a new projector of Thomas Edison's.

Previously, people saw short films individually by looking into a box-like peepshow, cranked by hand. Now, there are just under 5-thousand movie theaters in the U.S. -? most of them with multiple screens ?- and they sell close to 11-billion dollars worth of tickets and refreshments each year.