to hum a tune

1686, Rev. Charles Morton of Newington Green, Compendium Physicae, preface; reprinted in:

By 1903, the actuality film had reached its peak; in 1903, the Edison and Biograph companies, combined, registered three hundred fifty one actuality films for copyright protection. By 1908 that number had dropped to two.

It was an incident that he hoped to forget.