I'd like to show here just an inner selection of the oldest visual effects. The whole article was created by VFX History company. You can read the whole article here: http://homepage.mac.com/cirquefilm/vfxhistory/index.html
1. Stop Action (1894) - Not only is this the oldest surviving example of stop action, it is the oldest known visual effects shot. Queen Mary enters the frame, kneels down and is beheaded, all in one take. Newspaper columnists actually wondered what dedicated actress had given her all for her art! Of course, the camera was stopped mid-swing and a dummy took the place of the woman. The poor registration actually helps sell the shot, as the crowd moved between takes. Discovered accidentally one day when his camera jammed, George Meliès would soon turn the technique into an art form.
2.In camera Matte (1903) - Shot on location in New Jersey, the first movie blockbuster was also the first American film to use a matte to insert detail into the windows of The Great Train Robbery, Edwin's Porter version of an actual Butch & Sundance Wyoming train robbery in 1900. It was also the first one-reeler (approx. 10 minutes) which also made it the longest movie yet made.3. Travelling Matte (1913) - Our heroes,of course, save the girl at the last possible moment, but the shot was too dangerous to be done live, even by silent film standards, so it was made in two passes. The train's run-by was one take, and the actors' performance another.
4. Rear Projection (1927) - Rear projection of still images had been used since the teens, but this is the first use of a moving background image. Television had just been invented in the mid 1920's and director Fritz Lang wanted to show it in common use in the year 2026.