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Date of Birth
John Logie Baird was born on August 14th, 1888 in Helensburgh Scotland. -
Childhood Illness
Baird sufferend from a recurring chest illness that he got at around 2 years old which was diagnosed as stoppage of the bowels which left him vulnerable to colds and flu throughout his life. This affected his future because he was unable to attend a lot of classes as a child, and was later considered unfit for the millitary at the start of WWI. -
Childhood Inventions
Baird was very ill throuhgout his childhood, therefore spent a lot of time at home. When he was 12, he made his own telephone. He joined his phone to the houses of four friends, by hanging wires from trees and chimneys. Also, the Bairds' house was the first in the town to have electricity. When he was 13, he built a generator to make electric power to light the house. -
His Early Studies
He began to study electrical engineering at the Royal Technical College in Glasgow in 1914, but was interrupted by the beginning of World War 1. -
After School
After he was interrupted in college by WWI in 1914, he tried to join the Army, but was unfit. So he worked in a factory- an electrical company, but soon grew tired of the routine and left to become an inventor. He began working on ways of sending pictures by radio. -
First Television
In 1924 Baird made his first TV, He used boxes, biscuit tins, sewing needles, a card, and the motor from an electric fan. His first TV picture showed a cross cut out of card.
Baird's TV also used spinning discs. His idea was to scan an image with it, with tiny holes. Light from the image came through the holes in many flashes. He then changed the flashes of light into electric signals. He sent the signals to a second spinning disc with tiny light bulbs instead of holes. -
First Person on TV
In 1925, Baird made better TV pictures of a ventriloquist's doll. An office boy named William Taynton sat in front of Baird's camera. Taynton was the first person to appear on TV.
Baird showed his television at the Selfridges store in London. Forty famous scientists went to his London office to see it. -
Color TV and Phonovision
In 1927, Baird demonstrated color TV and a video-recording system he called a “Phonovision”. The definition of Phonovision is "a system of television transmission over telephone lines designed to make possible the distribution of television programs for paying subscribers." He was the first person to create color TV which is usually the only TV we see today. -
First Sending of Pictures
In May 1927, Baird sent pictures from London to Glasgow, through the phone line. This was a big accomplishment back then because not only was TV a thing now, it was able to be transmitted across a stretch of land! -
First Pictures Sent Under the Sea
In 1928 Baird sent the first TV pictures under the sea, from Britain to America. Without being able to send TV pictures under the sea, we would be unable to see what was going on around the world. -
Death Date
Baird suffered from a stroke on June 14th 1946 in Bexhill-on-Sea in England. -
How Baird is Still Relevant/Important Today
Almost eveyone has a Television in their house today. Whether it's one per house, or one per person in a house, nearly eveyone has one. They can be used for Entertainment such as Sports, Comedy or Drama, Information from around the world such as the news, or even Education such as PBS or the History Channel, Without Baird and his invention, people would be unable to hear about News from around the World until a while after it's happened..
