RIBGY, Idaho — Rigby, Idaho, is the birthplace of television — or at least the idea behind it. The eastern Idaho town is where Philo Farnsworth first conceived the invention that changed the world.
WATCH: Get an inside look at the Farnsworth TV and Pioneer Museum
"Philo Farnsworth has been credited for being the inventor of television. Is that fact or fiction?" Senior Reporter Don Nelson asked, "Well, that's a fact as far as I'm concerned," Leon Guyman, chairman of the board at the Farnsworth TV and Pioneer Museum in Rigby, replied.
Guyman said Farnsworth came up with the concept in 1922, when he drew a diagram on a high school chalkboard and explained to his teacher that he believed pictures could be produced electronically.
That chalkboard sketch would later prove critical.
"Now when Philo left the classroom, his teacher made a copy of that drawing, dated and kept it, and that became very important for Philo later on. A few years later, he applied for a patent for that particular process. He did receive the patent for that process," Guyman said.
RCA, the electronic giant of the day, disputed his patent. But Farnsworth's high school teacher traveled to Washington, D.C., to testify before the patent committee.
"Eventually his high school teacher went back to Washington DC and testified before the patent committee as to the exact date that he came up with that idea. So, he was able to keep that patent," Guyman said, "Philo ended up with over 300 patents in his lifetime."
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Guyman also addressed a common misconception about the museum.
"A lot of people think that because we, they said we claim to be the birthplace of television. They come in and say, 'Well, where did they invent it?' Well, he came up with the idea while he was looking at a row crop," Guyman said.
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Guyman noted that while the first television Farnsworth built was not constructed in Rigby, the idea was born there.
The museum draws visitors from near and far. A group traveling to Yellowstone stopped in out of curiosity. One visitor said a YouTube video sparked the detour.
"[I'm] big fan of TV, big fan of history, and I saw it was close and had to come through," the visitor said.
Even local high school students who had driven past the museum countless times said they were surprised by what they found inside.
"I mean, it's like a million times more interesting than I thought it was going to be," the students said.
Farnsworth was posthumously inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 2013.
This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been, in part, converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
