University of Utah (Special Collections Department, J. Willard Marriott Library)

The electronic television: Philo T. Farnsworth

Philo T. Farnsworth is known as the “Father of Television.” Born in Utah in 1906, Farnsworth was always fascinated by technology and inventions that used electricity. At a young age, he was amazed by a telephone conversation with his far-away aunt. When he asked his father who made such amazing devices, his father said, “Inventors make these things.” Farnsworth wanted to join the ranks of great inventors.

When his family moved to his uncle’s farm in Idaho, he was thrilled to find it equipped with a Delco generator. Philo observed the technician who serviced the generator, and one day when it stopped he volunteered to repair it. Although the adults around him doubted his abilities, he repaired the generator and was declared “engineer in charge of the generator.” Farnsworth found a collection of technology magazines in the attic of the home which furthered his aspirations to be an inventor. His imagination was captured by an article about sending images through the air along with audio. In 1921, while running a plow line by line across his father’s field near Rigby, Idaho, Farnsworth realized that transmitting an image was like a field and must be transmitted one line at a time. In high school, he sketched ideas to transmit these images for his teacher and mentor, Justin Tolman. This sketch later played a key role in patent dispute of a key television component.

When the Farnsworth family moved to Provo, UT in 1923, Philo attended Brigham Young University until the death of his father later that year. Philo continued to dream of television but knew he would have to learn all that he could to perfect and prove his idea. Farnsworth became acquainted with and began working for Leslie Gorrell and George Everson in Salt Lake City, who saw the great potential in Philo’s ideas. They agreed to fund his work and Philo moved with his new wife, Elma Gardner, first to Hollywood and then to San Francisco to set up a laboratory and begin working on the television.

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