Philo Farnsworth

19 August 1906 – 11 March 1971

Philo Taylor Farnsworth (1906-1971) was an American inventor and television pioneer who developed the first fully functional all-electronic television system. He conceived the image dissector camera tube as a teenager and demonstrated the first electronic television transmission in 1927. He held some 300 patents and spent years in patent battles with RCA over television priority.

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Life events

Born in Beaver, Utah
19 August 1906

Philo Taylor Farnsworth was born in a log cabin built by his grandfather in Beaver, Utah.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Sketched electronic television concept for his high school teacher
1922

As a student at Rigby High School in Idaho, Farnsworth showed his chemistry teacher Justin Tolman a diagram of his idea for an electronic image scanning system.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Studied at Brigham Young University
1923 – 1925

Farnsworth enrolled at Brigham Young University but left without a degree after his father's death.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Married Elma 'Pem' Gardner
27 May 1926

Farnsworth married Elma Gardner, who became his lifelong collaborator, and the couple moved to California to pursue his television research.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Transmitted the first all-electronic television image
7 September 1927

In his San Francisco laboratory, Farnsworth successfully transmitted an image of a straight line using his image dissector, the first fully electronic television transmission.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Gave the first public demonstration of electronic television
September 1928

Farnsworth demonstrated his all-electronic television system to the press at his Green Street laboratory in San Francisco.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Won patent interference case against RCA
1935

The U.S. Patent Office ruled in Farnsworth's favor in the priority dispute with RCA and Vladimir Zworykin over the invention of electronic television, leading RCA to license his patents in 1939.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Founded Farnsworth Television and Radio Corporation
1938

Farnsworth's company acquired manufacturing facilities in Fort Wayne, Indiana, to produce televisions and radios.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Pursued fusion research with the Farnsworth-Hirsch fusor
c. 1964

Working at ITT in Fort Wayne, Farnsworth developed the fusor, an inertial electrostatic confinement device for nuclear fusion.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Died in Salt Lake City, Utah
11 March 1971

Farnsworth died of pneumonia at age 64 in Salt Lake City.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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