Source: U.S. Census Bureau — Philo Farnsworth and the Invention of Television (2023)
source confidence: High status: Useful updated 2026-08-11
Summary
A 2023 U.S. Census Bureau historical profile of Philo Farnsworth, published as part of their monthly history series. This government source documents Farnsworth's birthplace in Beaver, Utah, the January 7, 1927 patent filing, and the September 7, 1927 demonstration of the first all-electronic television transmission.
Useful Claims
- Philo T. Farnsworth was born in Beaver, Utah in 1906.
- Farnsworth filed his first television patent on January 7, 1927.
- On September 7, 1927, he successfully demonstrated the first all-electronic television transmission in his San Francisco laboratory.
- The Census Bureau profile positions Farnsworth as the inventor of electronic television distinct from mechanical television predecessors.
Verbatim
"Philo T. Farnsworth was born in Beaver, UT, in 1906." — Article body, census-data sidebar
"After he accidentally blew an earlier television experiment to pieces, he refined the design and filed for the first of more than 300 patents he received in his lifetime on January 7, 1927." — Article body, San Francisco laboratory section
"On September 7, 1927, the young inventor used his newly designed image dissector to successfully transmit the image of a single straight line drawn on a glass slide to a receiver in an adjacent room at his laboratory. "There you are," Farnsworth exclaimed, "Electronic television!"" — Article body, first transmission
"Much to Farnsworth's relief, the U.S. Patent Office ruled in 1935 that he was the "undisputed inventor of television."" — Article body, RCA patent battle
Reliability Notes
The capture gives Farnsworth's birth year and Beaver, Utah, birthplace but not the August 19 date recorded in other biographical sources.
As a U.S. federal government publication, this source has high institutional credibility. The Census Bureau history series is produced for public education and is well-suited as a secondary source for established biographical and invention facts. It is not a primary source (not a contemporaneous record) but draws on documented historical scholarship.