John Logie Baird

John Logie Baird ( 1888 - 1946 )

Location: the house in Hastings where Baird carries out his experiments and demonstrated the first radio transmission of images (television)

Unveiled: 12 March 1997 by Dr. Brian Manley, President of the IOP IOP Branch South Central

Educated in Glasgow, Baird's initial studies were in electrical engineering. He began serious experiment, however, in the early 1920s, after a serious illness. His previous record of poor health had meant that his earlier attempts to earn a living selling household goods were unsuccessful. His first television apparatus was able to transmit and receive pictures over a range of a few feet, and the first demonstration took place in two attic rooms in Soho in 1926. In the following years, the range of his apparatus increased rapidly, transmitting via telephone line from London to Glasgow in 1927, and to New York in 1928. The first BBC television pictures were transmitted by Baird's company in 1929, but the system that the BBC eventually adopted was that of Marconi-EMI. Although his particular methods have now largely been superseded, he also experimented with stereo and large-screen formats, and UHF transmission, pioneering techniques which are often considered nowadays to be modern developments.

London blue plaques

1. 22 Frith Street, W1 where he demonstrated television in 1926
2. 3 Crescent Wood Road, Sydenham, SE26 where he lived
3. 132 - 134 Long Acre WC2 where he broadcast the 1st television program in Britail in 1929

Page last updated 21 January 2014