The History Of Animation- Part 1

Persistence Of Vision
Persistence Of Vision is the phenomenon where the retina retains an image for a brief second after the image was actually shown. (Source) Below you can see an example of the persistence of vision. 

Thaumatrope
A Thaumatrope is a spinning disk with a picture on each side attached to two pieces of string. The user then spins the toy with the string quickly between two fingers and watches as the two images come to life.

The credit for this toy is usually given to John Ayrton Paris or Peter Mark Roge. below you can see an example of how to use a Thaumatrope.

Phenakistoscope
A Phenakistoscope is an early animation device (probably the earliest) that used the persistence of vision principle to create an illusion of motion. (Source) Below is an example of one of the first Phenakistoscopes.

Zoetrope 

A zoetrope is a device that produces the illusion of motion from a rapid succession of static pictures. (Source) Below is again an example of a Zoetrope.

Praxinoscope

A Praxinoscope is a device which demonstrates the illusion of moving images. This device uses a spinning disk attached to a vertical handle and shows the motion an object such as a couple dancing. Around the center of the disk are pictures of the same objects but slight movements are made to create a single moving image when the device is in motion. Below you can see an example of the Praxinoscope.

Kinetoscope

A Kinetoscope is a device which allows people to view motion pictures. It was designed for films which would be viewed by one person at a time through a peephole viewer window at the top of the device. Below you can see one single person using the Kinetoscope.