This edited article about inventors originally appeared in Look and Learn issue number 889 published on 3 February 1979.

What could a man build with an old tea chest, a biscuit box, darning needles, the lenses of old bicycle lamps, electric motors due for the scrap heap, lengths of wire and assorted odds and ends?

The people of Hastings, where these purchases were made in the early 1920s, did not know and certainly would never have guessed that it was the raw material for the world’s first practical television transmitter – and that the tousle-headed, bespectacled young Scotsman John Logie Baird who bought them was to become famous as the pioneer of TV.

Baird was a sick man. He had come to Hastings on the south coast for his health, despite his lack of money. But he was determined to achieve the transmission of vision by radio.

Although others before him had established some basic principles of picture transmission, it was Baird who put them into practice.

How do you send a picture through the air? You send it, strip by strip, in the form of radio signals, and at the other end you have a receiver, like our modern televisions, which decodes these signals strip by strip and turns them into a picture again.

For months, Baird worked alone in his attic laboratory, struggling to transmit a recognisable image. In October, 1925, the breakthrough came: he successfully transmitted a picture of a ventriloquist’s dummy from one end of his apparatus to a receiver elsewhere in his room. Baird had proved to himself that it could be done – now all that was necessary was to convince the public.

On 27th January, 1926, at the famous London store of Selfridges, John Logie Baird gave the first public demonstration of television. A blurred image of a human face was transmitted, but it was strong enough to be recognised. Television had arrived.

But there was rather a sad end to Baird’s pioneering work. The system that he had invented was too crude to give the perfect reproduction we expect today, and ultimately another system was adopted by the BBC and other broadcasting organisations of the world.

We have selected three of the best pictures from our large collection of 19th and early 20th century educational trade cards.
The first picture shows Leonardo da Vinci as a student of Andrea del Verrocchio.

Leonardo da Vinci as a student of Andrea del Verrocchio

The second picture shows the Siege of Paris by the Normans in the 9th Century.

Siege of Paris by the Normans, 9th Century

The third picture shows the Call to prayer at Gallipoli.

Call to prayer, Gallipoli

High-resolution scans of all educational cards can be found in the Look and Learn picture library.

We have selected three of the best pictures from our large collection of 19th and early 20th century educational trade cards.
The first picture shows Paganini’s mother recounting her dream in which it was predicted that he would become famous.

Paganini's mother recounting her dream in which it was predicted that he would become famous

The second picture shows a mediaeval mystery play.

A medieval mystery play

The third picture shows the Capitoline Geese.

Geese of the Capitoline hill

High-resolution scans of all educational cards can be found in the Look and Learn picture library.

We have selected three of the best pictures from our large collection of 19th and early 20th century educational trade cards.
The first picture shows a laboratory for medical research into bacteria.

The art of curing – medical research laboratory

The second picture shows Pheidippides bringing news of the victory of the Greeks over the Persians at the Battle of Marathon.

Pheidippides brings news of the victory of the Greeks over the Persians at Marathon, 490 BC

The third picture shows a Gaming room at Monte Carlo.

Gaming room, Monte Carlo, Monaco

High-resolution scans of all educational cards can be found in the Look and Learn picture library.

We have selected three of the best pictures from our large collection of 19th and early 20th century educational trade cards.
The first picture shows a Tourist car on the Mount Lowe Railway, California.

Tourist car on the Mount Lowe Railway, California

The second picture shows a futuristic prediction: enjoying the theatre in one’s own home in 2000.

Enjoying the theatre in one's own home in 2000

The third picture shows men hunting flamingos in Spain.

Hunting flamingos, Spain

High-resolution scans of all educational cards can be found in the Look and Learn picture library.

We have selected three of the best pictures from our large collection of 19th and early 20th century educational trade cards.
The first picture shows the French capture of Sontay in Vietnam.

The Capture of Sontay

The second picture shows a tobacco plantation in Cuba.

Tobacco plantation, Cuba

The third picture shows Samuel Morse, American inventor and telegraphy pioneer.

Samuel Morse, American inventor and telegraphy pioneer

High-resolution scans of all educational cards can be found in the Look and Learn picture library.

We have selected three of the best pictures from our large collection of 19th and early 20th century educational trade cards.
The first picture shows Harlequin and other characters from Die Puppenfee (The Fairy Doll), a ballet by the Austrian composer Josef Bayer.

Die Puppenfee (The Fairy Doll), a ballet by the Austrian composer Josef Bayer

The second picture shows Wilhelm I proclaimed Emperor of Germany in Versailles, 1871.

Wilhelm I proclaimed Emperor of Germany in Versailles, 1871

The third picture shows a New York street with elevated railway.

A New York street – elevated railway

High-resolution scans of all educational cards can be found in the Look and Learn picture library.

We have selected three of the best pictures from our large collection of 19th and early 20th century educational trade cards.
The first picture shows the sacrifice of Iphigenia.

The sacrifice of Iphigenia

The second picture shows the world ash tree called Yggdrasil.

The ash tree Yggdrasil

The third picture shows Quipus, the Peruvian system of communication using knotted strings.

Quipus, system of communication using knotted strings, Peru

High-resolution scans of all educational cards can be found in the Look and Learn picture library.

We have selected three of the best pictures from our large collection of 19th and early 20th century educational trade cards.
The first picture shows an Ancient Germanic tribe making iron weapons.

Ancient Germanic tribe making iron weapons

The second picture shows the American postal service.

American postal service

The third picture shows Porus, King of the Pauravas, offering Alexander the Great a bar of steel.

Porus, King of the Pauravas, offering Alexander the Great a bar of steel

High-resolution scans of all educational cards can be found in the Look and Learn picture library.

We have selected three of the best pictures from our large collection of 19th and early 20th century educational trade cards.
The first picture shows Mehmed the Conqueror, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.

Mehmed the Conqueror, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, makes his triumphal entrance into the Hagia Sophia after capturing Constantinople, 1453

The second picture shows Edward Jenner, who discovered a vaccine against smallpox.

Edward Jenner, English doctor and scientist who discovered a vaccine against smallpox

The third picture shows Scandinavian runes.

Scandinavian runes

High-resolution scans of all educational cards can be found in the Look and Learn picture library.