August 19, 1906…The Father Of Electronic Television Was Born
August 19, 1906…The Father Of Electronic Television Was Born
108 years ago today, Philo Taylor Farnsworth was born in Beaver, Utah and by age 14, he had worked out the principles for the Image Dissector tube which occurred to him while plowing back and forth on the family farm.
The video at this link was done by his great granddaughter, Jessica Farnsworth and is full of rare color film of some of Philo’s first demonstrations in San Francisco and Philadelphia and is well worth the ten minutes it takes to watch.
The photo below was taken after Farnsworth’s only appearance on the technology he created. In June of 1957, he was a guest on ‘I’ve Got A Secret’ and this clip is loaded to start at the beginning of his segment. http://youtu.be/3cspYZyGp1A?t=13m21s
The lady is his wife and assistant, Pem Farnsworth. Enjoy and share! – Bobby Ellerbee
Plowing is not unlike scanning.
PETER MARSHALL; Did a man named Philo Farnsworth ever do anything memorable?
CHARLEY WEAVER: Not according to the lovely Wanda Farnsworth
Thanks for inventing television here’s a carton of cigarettes.
Very cool.
I run a studio 45 seconds walk away from his lab.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKM4MNrB25o
Thanks for giving Philo his due, Bobby. I’m a fan of Pem, too. Here’s that extensive interview she did which is fascinating viewing for TV history geeks! http://www.emmytvlegends.org/interviews/people/elma-pem-farnsworth
Great American inventor! A real hero! Inspirational story!
Another reminder to curse the memory of Sarnoff.
Great youtube video
An excellent biography also is ‘The Boy Who Invented Television: A Story of Inspiration, Persistence, and Quiet Passion’, by Paul Schatzkin, who worked for ABC.
What a star, we had a genius over here called Alan Blumlein, an assistant to Shoenberg at EMI, thanks to him we go 405 lines in 1936, not 242, sadly his was killed in the war testing Radar, sad loss.
Pem Farnsworth wrote a book titled Distant Vision which documents her life with Philo. She kept his notes in order and worked along side him as he invented things. I heard her speak before she dies and it was truely inspiring! One thing she mentioned was that Phil was so brilliant but she had to make sure his socks matched before he left the house each day!
breaks my heart he never made money off what others became millionairs