Page "Harmonica" Paragraph 35

The harmonica was developed in Europe in the early part of the 19th century.

Free reed instruments like the sheng were fairly common throughout East Asia for centuries and were relatively well known in Europe for some time.

Around 1820, free reed designs began being created in Europe.

While Christian Friedrich Ludwig Buschmann is often cited as the inventor of the harmonica in 1821, other inventors developed similar instruments at the same time.

Mouth-blown free reed instruments appeared in the United States, South America, the United Kingdom and in Europe at roughly the same time.