The Utah Inventor Unknown to TV Viewers
By Tom Morrow
Who would have thought pictures and sound could flow through the air and into a box sitting in our front room. Today, we take television for granted. While no one single inventor developed the “idea” of television, it was Philo T. Farnsworth, a Mormon high school student from Provo, Utah who put it all together.
Farnsworth made many contributions crucial to the early development of television as we know it today. In 1927 he developed the first fully functional, all-electronic transmitter and receiver.
Born Aug. 19, 1906, Farnsworth was a quick study in mechanical and electrical technology. In 1923, when he was 17, his family moved from a farm to Provo, Utah. A year later, he applied to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. He received the nation’s second-highest score on military academy recruiting tests, but when he learned the government would own all of his patents if he stayed in the service, Farnsworth returned to Provo and enrolled at Brigham Young University.
Farnsworth became acquainted with Leslie Gorrell and George Everson, a pair of San Francisco philanthropists. They agreed to fund Farnsworth’s early television research with an initial $6,000 in backing, allowing him to set up a laboratory for his experiments in Los Angeles. A few months after arriving in California, an attorney advised Farnsworth to apply for design patents, a decision which proved crucial in future legal disputes with the Radio Corporation of America (RCA).
Other inventors were at work on the concept of TV, but Farnsworth recognized the limitations of a mechanical system and developed an all-electronic scanning system that would produce a superior image for transmission to a receiving device. On Sept. 7, 1927, Farnsworth’s basic “camera” tube transmitted the first image to a receiver in another room at his San Francisco laboratory.
A number of inventors previously had built “electro-mechanical” television systems, but Farnsworth designed and built the world’s first complete working TV system, employing electronic scanning in both the pickup and display devices. It wasn’t until 1934, when Farnsworth first demonstrated his system to the public.
Earlier, in 1931, David Sarnoff of RCA recognized the potential of Farnsworth concept and offered to buy his patents with the stipulation he become an employee of RCA, but Farnsworth refused the offer. Instead, Farnsworth joined the Philco company in Philadelphia. RCA would later file a lawsuit against Farnsworth, claiming an earlier 1923 patent had priority over his design, despite the fact RCA could present no evidence to their claim. Accordingly, the U.S. Patent Office rendered a1934, decision awarding priority of the invention of the camera to Farnsworth. RCA lost a subsequent appeal, but controversial and costly litigation over a variety of issues continued for several years. Sarnoff finally agreeing to pay Farnsworth royalties due him.
Traveling to Europe in 1936, Farnsworth secured an agreement with a Germany electronics firm. Farnsworth’s image cameras were used to telecast portions of the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games. A long-forgotten piece of history: Adolf Hitler was the world’s first televised personality when the dictator opened the Olympics, even though only a few primitive receivers nearby the stadium could watch the televised games transmitted with Farnsworth’s equipment — nonetheless it happened.
Back in the U.S., Farnsworth regularly began transmitting experimental programs. During this time he also invented a “fog-penetrating electronic beam” for ships and airplanes – a primitive form of radar.
In 1938, he established the Farnsworth Television and Radio Corporation in Fort Wayne, Ind. In September 1939, after a more than decade-long legal battle, RCA finally conceded to a multi-year licensing agreement concerning Farnsworth’s 1927 patent, settling for $1 million. After showcasing Farnsworth electronic marvel at the 1939 World Fair in New York, RCA was free to sell Farnsworth’s television cameras.
But the outbreak of World War II delayed further development of television until 1945. By 1948, there were hundreds of TV sets across the nation receiving programming from RCA’s National Broadcasting Co. (NBC), plus the Dumont and Westinghouse networks. Soon after, CBS and ABC joined in. By 1952, the Federal Communications Commission had licensed more than 100 TV stations, mostly in major cities. In 1947, KTLA, Channel 5, in Los Angeles was the first TV station to go on the air west of the Mississippi.
In his later years, Farnsworth became an alcoholic and as a consequence he became seriously ill with pneumonia, and died on March 11, 1971. But, he wasn’t forgotten. In 1984, Farnsworth was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. When he died, Farnsworth held some 300 U.S. and foreign patents. His inventions contributed to the development of radar, infra-red night vision devices, the electron microscope, the baby incubator, the gastroscope, and an astronomical telescope.
In 1999, Time magazine named Farnsworth one of the “Time 100: The Most Important People of the 20th Century.” Today, Farnsworth’s statue, along with that of President Ronald Reagan, represents California in Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol’s National Collection. (Each state is allowed two statues of its prominent citizens).
Before his death Farnsworth predicted television would someday be developed to the point it would send and receive perfect, “high definition” images – something we enjoy today.
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