13th August 1888 John Logie Baird was born

13 August 1888
The birth of John Logie Baird, pioneer of television and radio, at Helensburgh. Educated at Glasgow Academy and the Royal Technical College (now the University of Strathclyde), he lived for a while in the West Indies before returning to England to work as an inventor. He promoted and popularized the concept of television, making many test transmissions of images which enabled the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) to show the first television picture in 1929. Unfortunately, Baird’s mechanical scanning process was later superseded by EMI’s superior electrical scanning process, though he continued to pursue refinements such as color and large-screen television. He also worked on radio direction finding (radar), which was later crucial in the defense of Britain during the Second World War, but for which he received little acknowledgement. Though not destitute, his career was not a great financial success. He died of bronchial problems in 1946 and was buried in Helensburgh.

• 1960 – The Central African Republic declares independence from France.