Disco balls, often associated with the 1970s, actually trace back to the 1920s. Originally known as 'mirror balls,' they were used in nightclubs and dance halls to create dazzling light effects.

[Tim] started by modeling the disco ball after a soccer ball with a mixture ... is that the camera doesn’t work very well without light, which is something good parties are usually short on.

Well, 20 years later Louis Bernard Woeste patented the “myriad reflector,” an early version of the disco ball. In the 1920s, Louis and a partner produced and sold his creation as a myriad reflector.