1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,280 Speaker 1: Hey, y'all. We're rerunning two episodes today, which means you 2 00:00:03,400 --> 00:00:07,480 Speaker 1: might hear two hosts. Enjoy the show. Welcome to this 3 00:00:07,560 --> 00:00:10,200 Speaker 1: Day in History Class from how Stuff Works dot Com 4 00:00:10,280 --> 00:00:12,680 Speaker 1: and from the Desk of Stuff you Missed in History Class. 5 00:00:12,800 --> 00:00:15,080 Speaker 1: It's the show where we explore the past, one day 6 00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:17,160 Speaker 1: at a time with a quick look at what happened 7 00:00:17,200 --> 00:00:24,320 Speaker 1: today in history. Welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. 8 00:00:24,440 --> 00:00:28,440 Speaker 1: Wilson and it's August. Filo T. Farnsworth was born on 9 00:00:28,480 --> 00:00:31,800 Speaker 1: this day in nineteen o six, and Filo T. Farnsworth 10 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:35,440 Speaker 1: was an inventor. He was inventing things as a teenager. 11 00:00:35,920 --> 00:00:39,280 Speaker 1: This included winning a National Science and Invention magazine contest. 12 00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:42,080 Speaker 1: At the age of thirteen, he invented a tamper proof 13 00:00:42,159 --> 00:00:45,920 Speaker 1: lock for the Model T Ignition switch. The next year, 14 00:00:46,080 --> 00:00:49,120 Speaker 1: his family home got electricity, and he converted all of 15 00:00:49,159 --> 00:00:52,840 Speaker 1: their appliances to electrical power. In his teens, he also 16 00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:56,840 Speaker 1: sketched out a basic concept for a TV. It controlled 17 00:00:56,880 --> 00:00:59,880 Speaker 1: the speed and directions of electrons and used a vacuum 18 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:03,640 Speaker 1: you to create images on a screen was a scanning 19 00:01:03,800 --> 00:01:07,319 Speaker 1: electron beam. It painted these images line by line. He 20 00:01:07,360 --> 00:01:09,560 Speaker 1: tried to show this to his teacher. His teacher did 21 00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:12,280 Speaker 1: not get what he was trying to say at all. 22 00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:17,000 Speaker 1: This was totally different from the other primary television technology 23 00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:19,640 Speaker 1: that was in development at the time, which used these 24 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:22,840 Speaker 1: revolving discs, and you had to keep the disc on 25 00:01:22,880 --> 00:01:27,120 Speaker 1: each side of the transmission synchronized exactly or else the 26 00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:32,520 Speaker 1: image would be blurry. Farnsworth started filing patents for his television, 27 00:01:32,560 --> 00:01:36,559 Speaker 1: and he unveiled a prototype on September seven of that year. 28 00:01:36,959 --> 00:01:39,800 Speaker 1: The picture started out pretty blurry, but he made it 29 00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:42,280 Speaker 1: better and he kept working on it, even after a 30 00:01:42,360 --> 00:01:44,640 Speaker 1: fire at his lab destroyed a lot of his work. 31 00:01:44,959 --> 00:01:48,680 Speaker 1: This little device also had a very small screen, was 32 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:51,360 Speaker 1: about one and a quarter inches square. If you ever 33 00:01:51,480 --> 00:01:55,240 Speaker 1: watched the TV show Warehouse thirteen, it's very much like 34 00:01:55,360 --> 00:01:59,240 Speaker 1: the Farnsworth devices that they use on that show. Meanwhile, 35 00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:01,640 Speaker 1: while he was doing all of this work on his 36 00:02:01,720 --> 00:02:06,840 Speaker 1: television invention, Powerhouse Radio Corporation of America, also known as 37 00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:09,840 Speaker 1: r CIA, started up a pr campaign that tried to 38 00:02:09,919 --> 00:02:14,400 Speaker 1: discredit Farnsworth's inventions and the idea of television in general 39 00:02:14,480 --> 00:02:17,400 Speaker 1: as just not ready for market. R CIA tried to 40 00:02:17,440 --> 00:02:20,720 Speaker 1: promote its own radio technology instead. You could not even 41 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:23,560 Speaker 1: build your own radio without an r c A license. 42 00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:27,200 Speaker 1: At this time, they also hired an inventor from Westinghouse 43 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:32,360 Speaker 1: to visit Farnsworth's lab and try to reverse engineer his designs, 44 00:02:32,880 --> 00:02:35,280 Speaker 1: and Farnsworth, not knowing that this guy was from r 45 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:38,400 Speaker 1: c A, let him in. This other inventor was not 46 00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:41,760 Speaker 1: successful in his whole reverse engineering projects, so r c 47 00:02:41,919 --> 00:02:46,000 Speaker 1: A instead made an attempt to buy Farnsworth's work outright, 48 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:49,120 Speaker 1: but it was a very low offer, so he just refused. 49 00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:52,760 Speaker 1: That's when r CIA started up a patent war. The 50 00:02:52,880 --> 00:02:56,919 Speaker 1: U S Patent Office found in Farnsworth's favor in ve 51 00:02:57,000 --> 00:02:59,799 Speaker 1: but r c A did not back down. They had 52 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:03,840 Speaker 1: were money, more lawyers, and more power than Farnsworth did, 53 00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:07,840 Speaker 1: so Farnsworth finally sold them a non exclusive license for 54 00:03:07,880 --> 00:03:12,360 Speaker 1: a million dollars. Unfortunately, all of this stress seems to 55 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:14,760 Speaker 1: have had an effect on his mental health. He had 56 00:03:14,760 --> 00:03:18,480 Speaker 1: a psychiatric collapse after all of this, and he experienced 57 00:03:18,480 --> 00:03:20,840 Speaker 1: depression for the rest of his life, but he did 58 00:03:21,080 --> 00:03:24,760 Speaker 1: keep on inventing, mostly turning his focus away from television. 59 00:03:25,080 --> 00:03:28,240 Speaker 1: Over his lifetime, he was granted or named on at 60 00:03:28,320 --> 00:03:31,120 Speaker 1: least a hundred and sixty patents, and he contributed to 61 00:03:31,120 --> 00:03:34,920 Speaker 1: the development of technologies that used radar and infrared, as 62 00:03:34,920 --> 00:03:39,040 Speaker 1: well as electron microscopes and baby incubators. He was awarded 63 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:41,600 Speaker 1: a number of honorary degrees, and he became head of 64 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:44,920 Speaker 1: a fusion lab at Bring Him Young University. In nineteen 65 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:47,720 Speaker 1: sixty eight, he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall 66 00:03:47,760 --> 00:03:51,080 Speaker 1: of Fame. He died, though, of pneumonia, in Salt Lake City, 67 00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:54,360 Speaker 1: not long after that, on March eleventh of nineteen seventy one. 68 00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:58,440 Speaker 1: His wife Pem worked tirelessly to make sure he wouldn't 69 00:03:58,480 --> 00:04:02,080 Speaker 1: just be forgotten. Thanks to Tory Harrison for her audio 70 00:04:02,200 --> 00:04:04,840 Speaker 1: work on these episodes, and you can learn more about 71 00:04:04,840 --> 00:04:08,840 Speaker 1: Filo T. Farnsworth on the September episode of Stuff You 72 00:04:08,880 --> 00:04:11,560 Speaker 1: Missed in History Class. You can subscribe to This Day 73 00:04:11,560 --> 00:04:15,280 Speaker 1: in History Class on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, and wherever 74 00:04:15,320 --> 00:04:18,200 Speaker 1: else you get your podcasts. Tune in tomorrow for a 75 00:04:18,240 --> 00:04:21,720 Speaker 1: seventeenth century day that's become notorious but just doesn't tell 76 00:04:21,720 --> 00:04:42,800 Speaker 1: the whole story at all. Hi, I'm Eves and welcome 77 00:04:42,839 --> 00:04:46,320 Speaker 1: to This Day in History Class, a show that uncovers 78 00:04:46,360 --> 00:04:57,040 Speaker 1: history one day at a time. The day was August 79 00:04:56,800 --> 00:05:02,480 Speaker 1: nineteen fourteen, Mary Ellen Pleasant was born, though the exact 80 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:06,520 Speaker 1: year of her birth has been disputed, so many of 81 00:05:06,520 --> 00:05:10,520 Speaker 1: the details of her life are unconfirmed. Pleasant is remembered 82 00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:16,159 Speaker 1: as an entrepreneur, activist, and abolitionist. It's not clear where 83 00:05:16,240 --> 00:05:19,800 Speaker 1: Pleasant was born. She said she was born in Philadelphia 84 00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:22,400 Speaker 1: and that her mother was a free black woman and 85 00:05:22,440 --> 00:05:26,599 Speaker 1: her father was a Hawaiian man who imported silks, but 86 00:05:26,760 --> 00:05:29,360 Speaker 1: other sources have said that she was born in Georgia 87 00:05:29,560 --> 00:05:32,919 Speaker 1: or Virginia, and that she was born and slaved to 88 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:37,040 Speaker 1: a black mother and a white plantation owner. When she 89 00:05:37,120 --> 00:05:41,120 Speaker 1: was young, she went to Nantucket, Massachusetts, where she lived 90 00:05:41,200 --> 00:05:45,480 Speaker 1: with the Hussy's, a Quaker family. There she worked as 91 00:05:45,480 --> 00:05:50,080 Speaker 1: a bond servant in the family store. Pleasant married twice 92 00:05:50,120 --> 00:05:53,960 Speaker 1: in her life, first to a man named James Henry Smith, 93 00:05:54,040 --> 00:05:57,320 Speaker 1: who died in the eighteen forties and left her an inheritance, 94 00:05:57,800 --> 00:06:02,120 Speaker 1: and second to a black man named On Pleasant. While 95 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:05,320 Speaker 1: she was with her first husband, she became involved in 96 00:06:05,320 --> 00:06:08,839 Speaker 1: the abolition movement. He had instructed her to put the 97 00:06:08,880 --> 00:06:12,720 Speaker 1: inheritance towards the movement, but she likely did not direct 98 00:06:12,720 --> 00:06:16,520 Speaker 1: all of the money towards the cause. After the California 99 00:06:16,600 --> 00:06:19,800 Speaker 1: gold rush began in eighteen forty eight, and people moved 100 00:06:19,839 --> 00:06:24,320 Speaker 1: west seeking fortunes. Abolitionists also migrated to the state in 101 00:06:24,400 --> 00:06:29,039 Speaker 1: pursuit of gold. Pleasant moved to San Francisco and started 102 00:06:29,080 --> 00:06:32,480 Speaker 1: working as a housekeeper and cook, but she was making 103 00:06:32,560 --> 00:06:36,360 Speaker 1: a lot of money from her investments. She was putting 104 00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:39,880 Speaker 1: her money into stock and money markets, and she lent 105 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:44,920 Speaker 1: money to minors and business people with interest. Over the years, 106 00:06:44,960 --> 00:06:49,520 Speaker 1: she owned laundries, boarding houses, and restaurants. She had shares 107 00:06:49,560 --> 00:06:53,520 Speaker 1: in dairies and Wells Fargo Bank. She also put her 108 00:06:53,560 --> 00:06:57,440 Speaker 1: money to philanthropic use. She helped black people get homes 109 00:06:57,480 --> 00:07:00,880 Speaker 1: and jobs in San Francisco and helped free black people 110 00:07:01,000 --> 00:07:05,679 Speaker 1: who were illegally enslaved in California. Some sources have said 111 00:07:05,720 --> 00:07:09,000 Speaker 1: that she was involved in the Underground Railroad, and she 112 00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:12,360 Speaker 1: claimed that she gave money to help John Brown with 113 00:07:12,480 --> 00:07:16,600 Speaker 1: the raid on Harper's Ferry in Virginia. Pleasant was also 114 00:07:16,680 --> 00:07:20,840 Speaker 1: involved in civil rights advocacy. In the eighteen sixties, she 115 00:07:21,040 --> 00:07:24,560 Speaker 1: staged a sit in in San Francisco street cars, and 116 00:07:24,800 --> 00:07:27,920 Speaker 1: she participated in a court case that earned black people 117 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:31,920 Speaker 1: the right to give their testimonies in California. Courts, but 118 00:07:32,120 --> 00:07:36,240 Speaker 1: pleasant life was not free from controversy. There were rumors 119 00:07:36,280 --> 00:07:39,680 Speaker 1: that her boarding houses were fronts that provided wealthy men 120 00:07:39,760 --> 00:07:44,920 Speaker 1: with mistresses, and she formed a relationship, possibly romantic, with 121 00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:49,200 Speaker 1: a wealthy white man named Thomas Bell. She moved into 122 00:07:49,280 --> 00:07:52,640 Speaker 1: a mansion with Bill and his wife Teresa, and became 123 00:07:52,680 --> 00:07:57,400 Speaker 1: the housekeeper. People gossiped that she was Thomas's lover and 124 00:07:57,480 --> 00:07:59,680 Speaker 1: that she was running scams to get money out of 125 00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:03,320 Speaker 1: the Bell Her name was even on the deed to 126 00:08:03,400 --> 00:08:07,720 Speaker 1: the Bill homestead. When Thomas Bill died after falling from 127 00:08:07,720 --> 00:08:12,480 Speaker 1: a window, rumors spread that Pleasant killed him. Teresa Bell 128 00:08:12,640 --> 00:08:15,520 Speaker 1: claimed that Pleasant pushed him out of the window, and 129 00:08:15,680 --> 00:08:19,920 Speaker 1: the city turned against Pleasant. Court battles with the Bills 130 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:24,800 Speaker 1: and others cost Pleasant money and her reputation, though she 131 00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:27,960 Speaker 1: said that the Bill property belonged to her, as she 132 00:08:28,120 --> 00:08:31,720 Speaker 1: designed and built the mansion. She was forced to leave 133 00:08:31,800 --> 00:08:35,240 Speaker 1: the Bill estate when she was eighty five. In eight 134 00:08:36,679 --> 00:08:40,400 Speaker 1: she declared bankruptcy, though it was reported that she was 135 00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:43,800 Speaker 1: still worth between thirty five thousand and a hundred and 136 00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:48,280 Speaker 1: fifty thousand dollars. Pleasant was well known in San Francisco 137 00:08:48,400 --> 00:08:51,280 Speaker 1: by the time she died in nineteen o four. Despite 138 00:08:51,320 --> 00:08:56,320 Speaker 1: the drama, newspapers gave her the condescending nickname Mammy, a 139 00:08:56,400 --> 00:08:59,760 Speaker 1: stereotypical name for black women who took care of white children. 140 00:09:00,480 --> 00:09:04,120 Speaker 1: She stated that she did not like the name. Decades 141 00:09:04,160 --> 00:09:07,600 Speaker 1: after her death, the inscription she was a friend of 142 00:09:07,720 --> 00:09:11,560 Speaker 1: John Brown was added to her gravestone as she had requested, 143 00:09:12,200 --> 00:09:14,560 Speaker 1: and a park was established in her memory at the 144 00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:18,320 Speaker 1: site of the mansion where she lived. I'm Eve Jeff 145 00:09:18,360 --> 00:09:21,120 Speaker 1: Coote and hopefully you know a little more about history 146 00:09:21,160 --> 00:09:24,880 Speaker 1: today than you did yesterday. You can learn more about 147 00:09:24,920 --> 00:09:30,080 Speaker 1: history by following us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at 148 00:09:30,360 --> 00:09:35,559 Speaker 1: t d I h C podcast. Thank you so much 149 00:09:35,640 --> 00:09:38,480 Speaker 1: for listening, and I hope to see you again tomorrow 150 00:09:38,800 --> 00:09:48,240 Speaker 1: for more tidbits of history. For more podcasts from iHeart Radio, 151 00:09:48,400 --> 00:09:50,959 Speaker 1: visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 152 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:52,160 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.