The Birth of Spy Tech: From the ‘Detectifone’ to a Bugged Martini

Mar 23, 2022 8:00 AMThe urge to snoop is as old as time—and by the 1950s, the electronic listening invasion had begun.

The technologies of various sorts have been around for a long time. Prior to the invention of recorded sound, most listening devices were extensions of the built environment. Early modern architects designed buildings with structural features that amplified private speech, like when rain drops from the roof to the ground. The Jesuit polymath Athanasius Kircher created cone-shaped ducts for palaces and courts to allow the curious to overhear conversations. Catherine de Medici is said to have installed similar structures in the Louvre to keep an eye on people who might have plotted against her. It wasn't always a product of intentional design. The US Capitol building and the Cathedral in London have skylights that allow people to hear conversations on the other side of the room. These arrangements were found in 3000 BC. Many were used to eavesdrop.