Philo Farnsworth

NARRATOR 1: This Indiana Bicentennial Minute is made possible by the Indiana Historical Society and the law firm of Krieg Devault.

Various images appear on the screen, including a boy and a girl watching TV, and Philo Farnsworth working on various parts of televisions and radios.

JANE PAULEY: If you’re watching television you can thank the inventor Philo Farnsworth and the work he did in Fort Wayne Indiana. In 1939 Farnsworth began mass-producing television transmitters, receivers, TV cameras, and radios at his Farnsworth Radio and Television Corporation in Fort Wayne.

Several images of people working with television cameras, or appearing in front of cameras are shown, followed by images of different stages of the manufacturing process.

JANE PAULEY: RCA paid Farnsworth a million dollars for his invention of electronic television, but he continued to manufacture in Fort Wayne until 1951 when he sold his company to international telephone and telegraph. There he developed the forerunner of today’s air-traffic control systems. Farnsworth lived in his home in Fort Wayne until 1967 and died in 1971, the father of television.

Text on the screen reads visit indianahistory.org for more information. In the background, an image of a yellow house fades into a picture of Farnsworth turning a dial on a large machine.

JANE PAULEY: I’m Jane Pauley with this Indiana Bicentennial Minute.

NARRATOR: Made possible by the Indiana Historical Society and the law firm of Krieg Devault.