When Was the First Photograph Taken?

French inventor Joseph Nicéphore Niépce created the first known permanent photograph, "View from the Window at Le Gras," around 1826 or 1827. He coated a pewter plate with bitumen of Judea (a light-sensitive petroleum derivative) and exposed it in a camera obscura for approximately 8 hours (or possibly several days). The bitumen hardened where light struck it, and the unhardened areas were washed away with lavender oil, leaving a faint image of rooftops and chimneys visible from his window. Niépce later partnered with Louis Daguerre, who developed the daguerreotype process (announced 1839), which reduced exposure time to minutes and produced sharper images.