Although Eadweard Muybridge lived in the USA for much of his life, he was actually English. He lived between 1830 and 1904. He was one of the first people to prove that all 4 legs of a horse are off the ground at some points during trotting and galloping. He did this by setting up a row of cameras which were triggered by string as a horse galloped by... this was a big lead towards motion photography.
