Short answers, pulled from the story.
A magician named Shao-weng created the first recorded shadow play in the year 156 BCE for Emperor Wu of Han. He used a screen of curtains and torches to cast a moving shadow that resembled his deceased favorite concubine.
UNESCO designated wayang kulit as one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity on the 7th of November 2003. This recognition honored the Indonesian tradition of shadow puppetry that combines flat puppets made from perforated buffalo skin with gamelan orchestras.
Artisans in India crafted translucent leather figures from tanned deer skin during the 3rd century BCE. These puppets were four to five feet tall and featured articulated arms moved by attached canes while lower legs swung freely from the knee.
French showman François Dominique Séraphin developed clockwork mechanisms in the year 1771 to automate his shadow spectacles. These mechanisms allowed complex sequences to run without constant human intervention, enabling performances before royalty in Versailles and later in Paris.
German animator Lotte Reiniger created the world's first feature-length animated film titled The Adventures of Prince Achmed in the 1910s. She filmed shadow-play-like puppets frame-by-frame to preserve the aesthetic of the ancient tradition while expanding its reach to global audiences.