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John Logie Baird was born on 14 August 1888 in Helensburgh, 25 miles Northwest of Glasgow. By the turn of the century, his family house had seen the development of a telephone exchange, had been supplied with electric lighting and had been the site of an early flight experiment, all of which were the work of the imaginative youngest child.
Baird's earliest known interest in television technology was an experiment which he conducted at his parents' house in 1903. This experiment involved the attempted construction of a selenium photoelectric cell, but was unsuccessful, and Baird burnt his hands in the process. Baird first experimented with a complete television system between 1912 and 1915, while living in Yoker and working towards his electrical engineering diploma at the Glasgow College.


John Logie Baird was born on 14 August 1888 in Helensburgh, 25 miles Northwest of Glasgow. By the turn of the century, his family house had seen the development of a telephone exchange, had been supplied with electric lighting and had been the site of an early flight experiment, all of which were the work of the imaginative youngest child. Baird's earliest known interest in television technology was an experiment which he conducted at his parents' house in 1903. This experiment involved the attempted construction of a selenium photoelectric cell, but was unsuccessful, and Baird burnt his hands in the process. Baird first experimented with a complete television system between 1912 and 1915, while living in Yoker and working towards his electrical engineering diploma at the Glasgow College.
*In 1923 Baird travelled* from London to Hastings, where he continued his work on television. It has since been learned that he also worked in Folkestone, and when this new information was released a plaque was placed on 26 Guildhall Street, in Folkestone, in order to commemorate Baird's early television work there.
Almost eleven years to the day after graduating with an electrical engineering diploma from the Royal Technical College in Glasgow, Baird achieved a recognisable television image. In his autobiography, Baird describes this historic occasion: The image of the dummy's head formed itself on the screen with what appeared to be almost unbelievable clarity. I ran down the little flight of stairs to Mr. Cross' office, and seized by the arm his office boy William Taynton, hauled him upstairs and put him in front of the transmitter. After paying Taynton two shillings and sixpence to stay in position, a human face recognisably reproduced on his apparatus. Baird waited four months, until 26 January 1926, before demonstrating his achievement to the Royal Institute and a reporter from The Times newspaper. John Logie Baird's achievement of television brought him great recognition. He went on to become a well known public figure in Great Britain. In 1931 he married the concert pianist Margaret Albu. The couple had two children, Diana and Malcolm. Diana is a retired schoolteacher living near Glasgow, and Malcolm is a professor in chemical engineering at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, as well as a Baird historian in his own right.
		Next page: Benjamin George Ashwell
	Books on John Logie Baird - TV Pioneer:
			John Logie Baird: TV Pioneer R.W. Burns ... a biography of one of the 20th Century's outstanding inventors, published to coincide with the 75th anniversary of Baird's first public demonstration of a rudimentary television system. The book is based on primary source documents although many personal recollections are included
			Scientists Who Made History: John Logie Baird Stewart Ross