When Was Television Discovered?

The desire to see distant events has always captivated humanity. Ancient civilizations relied on methods like studying bird flight patterns for glimpses beyond the horizon. However, the ability to instantly witness far-off occurrences remained a dream until the advent of television, which stemmed from an unexpected scientific discovery.

In 1872, Joseph May, an English telegraph worker, stumbled upon a peculiar phenomenon while experimenting with materials for the transatlantic cable. He observed that the electrical conductivity of a selenium wire fluctuated when exposed to sunlight. This seemingly insignificant observation laid the foundation for converting light into electrical signals, a crucial principle for the future development of television.

This breakthrough paved the way for Maurice LeBlanc, a French engineer, who in 1880, published a groundbreaking article outlining the concept of image scanning. LeBlanc envisioned a system where a photoelectric cell would systematically analyze a picture portion by portion, transmitting the light intensity of each segment. This data would then be reconstructed at the receiving end, recreating the original image line by line, much like reading text. LeBlanc’s concept of scanning, utilizing a single channel to transmit a complete image, became the cornerstone of television technology.

While LeBlanc couldn’t build a functional device, Paul Nipkow, a German engineer, advanced the concept with his invention of the scanning disk in 1884. Nipkow’s patented “Elektrisches Telescop” employed a rotating disk with spiraling holes to scan an image line by line, allowing light to pass through and be analyzed. This mechanical scanning method proved crucial for future television development.

Building upon these foundational discoveries, John Logie Baird in Britain and Charles Francis Jenkins in the United States independently developed the first functioning television systems. While Jenkins transmitted a still image via radio waves in 1922, Baird achieved the milestone of transmitting a live human face in 1925, marking the true birth of television. The term “television” itself, coined by Constantin Perskyi in 1900, finally had a practical application.

Initial reactions to television ranged from skepticism to outright dismissal. Early articles questioned its practicality and profitability, doubting its entertainment value. Despite this negativity, pioneers like Baird and Jenkins persisted, leading to public demonstrations by AT&T in 1927 and regular broadcasts by GE in 1928, albeit with rudimentary content.

Jenkins even began selling television kits and established his own station, showcasing simple cartoon programs. Baird partnered with the BBC in 1929 to produce regular broadcasts, sparking the first “television boom.” However, the low resolution, flickering images, and simplistic programming soon led to a decline in enthusiasm. Despite this setback, research continued, shifting focus towards the potential of electron-based technologies, paving the way for future advancements in television technology.