13 August: John Logie Baird

John Logie Baird, “Father of Television”, was born on this date in 1888. 10 things you might not know about him:

1. He was born in Helensburgh on the west coast of Scotland. His father was a minister in the Church of Scotland.

2. He was inventive, even as a youngster. He devised a telephone exchange so he could talk to his friends in neighbouring houses.

3. He went to college in Glasgow where, as part of his course, he took several engineering apprenticeships. He never graduated, however, as the first world war interrupted his course.

4. In his twenties he worked on a number of inventions which weren’t as successful as television, including trying to make Diamonds by heating graphite, a glass razor, which didn’t rust, but shattered instead, and pneumatic shoes using balloons, which burst. More successful was his thermal Sock, which he invented because he used to get cold Feet.

5. He wasn’t accepted for military service because of his health, so instead he took a job with the Clyde Valley Electrical Power Company, which was engaged in munitions work.

6. After the war, he decided to move to Trinidad. There, he set up a business making jam, to make use of the fruit and sugar in abundance there. However, the venture failed thanks to local insects eating the Sugar and falling into the vats of jam. Once, a giant locust got into the bungalow he shared with a friend. They kept it in a bird cage and fed it on grass, Whiskey and soda.

7. He returned to England in 1923 and rented a workshop in Hastings. Here he began work on building the world’s first working television out of an old hatbox and a pair of scissors, some darning needles, a few bicycle light lenses, a used tea chest, and sealing wax and glue. With this contraption he managed to transmit an image of a Maltese cross over a distance of 10 feet.

8. The next step was to move to London and try and get the press interested in his invention. Staff at the Daily Express thought he was a nutter, with one of them exclaiming, "For God's sake, go down to reception and get rid of a lunatic who's down there. He says he's got a machine for seeing by wireless! Watch him—he may have a razor on him."

9. Baird's first public demonstration of television was in 1925, in Selfridge's shop in London. In 1928 he sent television pictures from London to New York by short-wave radio. He also demonstrated television in colour, and developed a video recording system. The pictures transmitted in colour were of an 8 year old girl wearing different coloured hats. Her name was Noele Gordon, who would later become a star on Baird’s invention, in a soap opera called Crossroads.

10. At the age of 43, John Logie Baird married South African pianist Margaret Albu in New York. The couple had two children – Diana and Malcolm.

Character birthday

Ptera Glide, aka Werner Ernst. Born in to a highly religious and rural community in Bavaria, Werner had an unhappy childhood. His genetic variance meant people believed him to be a devil – rejected by the church and ridiculed at school, he ran away and took up residence in a cliffside cave which was inaccessible except by flying, climbing or teleporting. He lived alone for some time until he was discovered by Safety Nett employees on an outward bound course who were abseiling down the cliff.

They knew the cliff was about to be turned into a funicular railway and warned Werner he would have to move. They also knew about the Combat Team Project, which Werner joined.