John Logie Baird

Biography :

John Logie Baird was a Scottish engineer and inventor. He was born on 13th August 1888 in Helensburgh, Scotland. His father was Reverend John Baird, and his mother was Jessie Morrison Inglis. Baird obtained his education at Larchfield Academy in Helensburgh. After, he entered the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College and the University of Glasgow for electrical engineering. But his degree course was interrupted due to the First World War, and he never returned to graduate. Initially, Baird served as superintendent engineer of the Clyde Valley Electrical Power Company. Later, he gave his attention to the transmission of moving pictures with sound. In 1931, Baird married Margaret Albu.

In 1924, Baird produced televised objects in outline and transmitted recognizable human faces in 1925. He gave the first public demonstration of a live television system in his laboratory in London on 26th January 1926. Baird also demonstrated color television in 1928. He completed his research on the stereoscopic television system in 1946. 

The Baird Television Development Company achieved the first transatlantic television transmission from London to New York in 1928. In the beginning, Baird worked with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). They used his television system. However, the BBC switched to the Marconi-EMI system in 1937.

According to the list in the National Library of Scotland's Scottish Science Hall of Fame, Baird was named as one of the ten greatest Scottish scientists in history in 2006. In 2015 his name was inducted into the Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame. On 26th January 2017, IEEE unveiled a bronze street plaque at 22 Frith Street in London for Baird's invention of television. Further, in 2021, "The Royal Mint" of Great Britain celebrated the 75th anniversary of Baird’s death, with the unveiling of a 50p brilliant uncirculated coin. The role of Baird in the practical introduction of broadcast television had a prominent place in television's history.