I went to college in idaho, near the town of Rigby Idaho, whenever you drive throguh Rigby you see signs everywhere that RIGBY IDAHO IS THE BIRTHPLACE OF TELEVISION, and then has Philo T Farnsworth Plastered everywhere. They are pretty proud of that Fact.

--skrike

Odd Synchronicity: The video servers I'm testing as I write this have data volumes called "Farnsworth", "Philo", and "Philco."

That was downright entertaining. Who knew? Why don't they dump half the thoughtless sitcoms now on and run re-runs of 1950s shows? That was funny.

>>Who knew? Why don't they dump half the thoughtless sitcoms now on and run
re-runs of 1950s shows?<<

Good idea. I think the Game Show Network does this. At least they did. I hardly watch TV any more.

Cool link.

Ever read "Carter Beats the Devil"? It's about Farnsworth, magic stage shows, Harding's assassination, the invention of television, and on and on. Good stuff.

Edited by author 07-30-2002 07:27 AM
Yes, the Game Show Network does broadcast reruns of old '50s shows. Right now they're doing To Tell The Truth, Password, and I've Got A Secret. In fact, I've seen the Farnsworth episode within the last few months.

I'm a night owl on the West Coast, so I can watch these shows just before going to bed. It's a whole different world, where the quiz shows bring on scientists and actually let them describe their achievements, where women wear white gloves, and where everyone has perfect old-school manners.

I've Got a Secret episodes appear in their Black and White Overnight section almost every night. ...The GSN website is really hosed up, so I'll just quote you the information I laboriously unearthed there:

Watch Black & White Overnight to see your favorite black & White Shows. You can see any combination of the following classic game shows:
· To Tell the Truth
· I’ve Got a Secret
· The Name’s the Same
· Judge for Yourself
· Beat the Clock
· Password
· What’s My Line?
· Two for the Money

Shows air at 4:00 am/e, 4:40am/e, and at 5:20am/e

Blumlein !

Doesn't everyone know that alan Blumlein invented the TV ? (and stereo, and long-distance telephones, and large chunks of radar)

Edited by author 07-30-2002 03:07 PM
What I read shows Farnsworth inventing electronic television in 1922-3 (when he was 14).

The Blumlein sites I've checked this morning say he invented a later version of TV, in 1935. E.g., http://www.doramusic.com/alexpalace2.htm, where all it says is, "Alan Blumlein, as head of this [EMI research and development] team, was therefore the key figure in the development of the electronic high definition television system."

Oh, I'm going to go into more detail, here, just because I can.

For Farnsworth there's a lot of evidence he was first. Here's a snippet from the John Logie Baird entry in the Digital Century encyclopedia at http://www.digitalcentury.com/encyclo/update/baird.html. (John Logie Baird invented an early form of mechanical television):

Baird was determined that mechanical television could work. He was, of course, aware of the advances made with cathode ray tubes, but had neither the inclination or financing to pursue it. But Gaumont British had other plans. Anxious about the potential of the Emitron tube, they urged Baird to seek a licensing agreement from Philo T. Farnsworth, a young American who created a device called the Image Dissector.

Farnsworth conceived his television system in 1923, while still in high school. Utilizing a cathode ray tube, his design predated Zworykin's Iconoscope by a decade. By 1927 the boy wonder had transmitted straight line images from his first Image Dissector. In 1934, the year he met Baird, he was deeply entangled in patent litigation suits with RCA. By licensing the Image Dissector in Great Britain, he hoped to sidestep RCA and claim a piece of the European market."

And so forth. I only have time to go into this much detail because I'm waiting at home for the washing machine repairperson.