Ninety years ago yesterday, the first live television demonstration took place. An anniversary such as this, I thought should not go unnoted. I came to the realization of this by a simple Google search. The Google Doodle for the online search engine on Jan. 26, 2016 was made in celebration of this historic event. After all, the invention has lead to so many innovations in technology. Surely, the event, the date, and the inventor deserve a shout out.
John Logie Baird, the inventor of the mechanical television, successfully demonstrated live TV to a group from the Royal Institution and a sceptical Times reporter in a laboratory in Soho, a district in Westminster, England. The demonstration was of an image of a woman turning her head that appeared on the television screen while the woman was in the next room. The picture was small; three and a half by two inches. It was the first of its kind.
Baird was an engineer from Helensburgh, Scotland. He was born in 1888; a hundred years before I was born. Another mind-blowing fact of how far inventions and technology have come since his time to my time. Baird attended the University of Glasgow for a time as an engineer major. Later, during his prime years gallivanting with his evolving invention, the university praised him, their previous student. The University of Glasgow is now the holder of much of Baird’s inventions, including some of the first-ever TV recordings. It was only in September of 2015 though that this collection of history came to be at the university.
Baird’s first television invention was not well received by everyone at first. He faced many skeptics. Many wondered how practical the television was, if it would ever be useful for anything. Baird went on with his inventions anyway, leading the way in early television technology for several decades.
To think, now we turn on the TV, our smart TVs, our Apple TVs and others without a blink of an eye or a second thought. The technology we are used to seeing in our daily lives is second nature to us now. I admit, I don’t think about the work and ingenuity that went into the products I use daily either. I may not understand them, but I sure do like them. And the TV, well that’s pretty nice too. Thanks, John Logie Baird.
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