Guess What? History of Compact Discs (CDs)

The first compact disc prototype was designed in the 1970s by James Russell, a scientist from Richland, Washington. However, the technology wasn’t mass-produced and made available to the public until 1982, when it appeared in stores in Japan. The CD quickly became the most popular way to store and play music, and by 2007, more than 200 billion discs had been sold worldwide.

The first album to be commercially released on compact disc was Billy Joel’s “52nd Street” in 1982. This marked the beginning of the CD era in music.