From Deseret News archives:
Television inventor's 100th anniversary will probably go unnoticed, as did he
Humans? Not much better, as we share a world engulfed by television. And the deeper our immersion becomes, the less likely it seems we'll poke our heads above the surface and see there must have been life before someone invented TV.
That invisible someone was Utah native Philo T. Farnsworth, who was fated to live and work, then die, in sad obscurity. Now, on the centennial of his birth on Aug. 19, 1906, his invention plays an increasingly powerful role in our lives with less chance than ever of him being recognized.
How ironic! In this media-savvy age, not only should his name be as widely known as Bell's or Edison's, but his long, lean face with the bulbous brow should be as familiar as any pop icon's. He should be the patron saint of every couch potato. Instead, we regard TV not as a man-made contraption but a natural resource.
Nonetheless, it was Philo Farnsworth who conducted the first successful demonstration of electronic television.
The setting: Farnsworth's modest San Francisco lab where, on Sept. 7, 1927, the 21-year-old self-taught genius transmitted the image of a horizontal line to a receiver in the next room.
It worked, just like Farnsworth had imagined as a 14-year-old Idaho farm boy and math whiz already stewing over how to send pictures, not just sound, through the air. He had been plowing a field when, with a jolt, he realized an image could be scanned by electrons the same way: row by horizontal row.
The prodigy at his plow had already made a fundamental breakthrough, charting a different course from others' ultimately doomed mechanical systems that required a spinning disk to do the scanning. Yet Farnsworth would be denied credit, fame and reward for developing the way TV works to this day.
Even TV had no time for him. His sole appearance on national television was as a mystery guest on the CBS game show "I've Got a Secret" in 1957. He fielded questions from the celebrity panelists as they tried in vain to guess his secret ("I invented electronic television"). For stumping them, Farnsworth took home $80 and a carton of Winston cigarettes.
In 1971, Philo Farnsworth died at age 64.
But his wife, Elma "Pem" Farnsworth, who had worked by her husband's side throughout his tortured career, continued fighting to gain him his rightful place in history, until her death in April of this year at 97 in Bountiful, Utah.
Comments
- BSA to host audiocast over Internet 5:47 p.m.
- Garbage trucks to trash teen drinking 5:47 p.m.
- Court seeks judicial candidates 5:29 p.m.
- Simple candies for the holidays 5:15 p.m.
- Latkes from frozen hash browns 5:14 p.m.
- Cakes taking a starring role 5:14 p.m.
- KSL is No. 1 5:14 p.m.
- Late local news ratings 5:14 p.m.
- Black Bean and Shrimp Salad perfect 5:14 p.m.
- Nonni's offers soft version of biscotti 5:14 p.m.
- 2 citations issued at Y.-U. game
- BYU says Hall incident resolved
- Max Hall: a fixture in rivalry lore
- 'Grandfamilies' a growing trend
- Witness: Mitchell wanted attention
- Mitchell called intelligent, controlling
- MWC '09 season in review
- Jazz win 6th in 7 games
- Daughter: Mitchell fed me my pet
- Jazz ready to be without Harpring
- Hall mouths off about hate of Utah
901 - Cougars beat Utes in overtime
482 - Hall reprimanded by MWC
400 - Max Hall issues apology
387 - Hall's pain reflects self-betrayal
342 - Utes won't respond to Hall
272 - BYU says Hall incident resolved
222 - 2 citations issued at Y.-U. game
150 - BYU is champion of the state
142 - Religion in politics is tiresome
125
Sunkist Growers and Fresh Market, a new division of Associated Food...
My husband was teaching his 6th-grade class in Salt Lake last year when...
The times that man is so self absorbed that they forget to serve others, give...
A very rational and intelligent evaluation of a growing problem in our...
“And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye,...
I thought that Obama said he would pull the troops out when he was running...
I like to earn some credit, I was hoping they were going to draft him in the...
MARIO YOU GOT THAT RIGHT JASMINE IS THE BEST AND CAN'T ANYONE TAKE THAT AWAY...
She also paid Joe the Plumber to come to Utah and stump for her. I guess she...
Stockton and Malone lived in a different time. These days doctors run tests...
You are exactly right about Harpring. He is a tough, dedicated warrior,...
Dick, I can't agree because the dredges are still awful without the ability...



You can be the first to comment on this story.