John Logie Baird was an engineer and inventor who achieved a lasting place in the history books when he became the first person to demonstrate a working television.
Having started to experiment with television in the early 1920s, Baird was instrumental not only in developing the possibilities of this new technology but also in its practical introduction for home use in collaboration with the recently founded BBC.
Born in Helensburgh in 1888, Baird showed his inventive potential at a young age, setting up a telephone exchange that connected his parents’ house with those of his nearby friends. After graduating from the Royal Technical College in Glasgow, Baird worked briefly for the Clyde Valley Electric Power Company, then tried – and failed – to establish a jam-making business in Trinidad.
Back in Britain, Baird set to work developing one of the most significant technologies of the 20th century. In 1924, he transmitted an image of a Maltese cross over the distance of 10 feet. In 1925, he demonstrated television to the public for the first time at Selfridge’s in London, and then in 1926 to members of the Royal Institution. Those images measured just 9cm by 5cm.
After successfully sending television pictures from London to New York via short-wave radio in 1928, Baird began working with the BBC the following year. It was Baird’s system that the BBC used for its first ever public television service in 1932. In later years, Baird continues to develop new technologies, including high-definition colour and 3D television.
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