Born in "The Lodge" in Helensburgh, near Glasgow. Inventor of mechanical television. demonstrating a prototype at Selfridges, 1925.
An illness meant he was always cold so in photos he is often shown wearing an overcoat. Was often referred to as 'JLB'. He and John Reith studied at the Royal Technical College in Glasgow at the same time. Reith took against JLB and later was not helpful when JLB was trying to work with the BBC of which he was Director General. The BBC were the only organisation permitted to transmit so their cooperation was essential. At one stage Baird went to Berlin to gain access to what he needed.
Died in Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex.
The 6 plaques spread over 4 Central London addresses testify to the story of Baird inventing television not being a simple one. have clarified it. In summary:
Frith Street, 1924-6: Baird used number 22 as a workshop, either the the first floor or the attic - depending on source, so possibly it was both and maybe at different times.
Frith Street, 26 January 1926: Baird first demonstrated the transmission of moving images to members of the Royal Institution and a reporter from The Times. This was a very short-range transmission, captured and viewed in the same set of rooms.
West Street, 1926-8: Following that demonstration, Baird established his company, Television Limited at 2-6 West Street, formerly Motograph House. Here he used the roof for some experiments. With some help from a BBC transmitter (radio already existed, remember) he made test transmissions, this time reaching beyond the building, to his own receiver in NW9. This is considered a ‘transmission’ rather than a ‘broadcast’ because there was only one receiver.
Long Acre, 30 September 1929: The first true broadcast. The content (as we’d call it now) was captured at Baird’s offices above 132-3 Long Acre, passed by landline to a BBC 2LO radio transmitter in Oxford Street, and then broadcast over the airwaves. Receiving sets were owned by very few people (Baird and his friends) and transmission was limited to either sound or vision, so they were alternated. He achieved simultaneous transmission on 30 March 1930, and he continued broadcasting regularly via the BBC until 1932.
Broadcasting House, 22 August 1932: the BBC began its own regular television programming from the basement of Broadcasting House, broadcasting using Baird’s system. Baird's receivers were known as Televisors.
At the BBC, following a trial in 1936-7, Baird's mechanical system eventually lost out to an electronic system from EMI-Marconi.
Working at their base in the Crystal Palace rotunda Baird and his staff helped the government during WW2: radar; kits for detecting unexploded bombs. All very secret.
As well as his pioneering work inventing television Baird was also innovative in related work: high definition, 3D, colour, radar.
Sources: , , , two BBC television programmes transmitted in 2026: ‘JLB: the Man Who Saw the Future' in the Storyville strand and ‘the Birth of Television’.
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