OtterKnow Kids Encyclopedia

A long time ago, there were no TVs at all. People could only see shows if they went to a theater in person. Then in 1927, a young inventor named Philo Farnsworth found a way to send pictures through the air using electricity. He was only 21 years old! The first TVs only showed pictures in black and white. Later, inventors figured out how to add color. Now we can watch shows on flat screens, tablets, and even phones.

Movies are made of thousands of pictures shown very quickly, one after another. When the pictures change fast enough, it looks like everything is moving! The first movies had no sound at all. People watched them while a piano player made music. Today, movies use computers to create amazing worlds with dinosaurs, superheroes, and talking animals.

• The first TV pictures were blurry and very small, about the size of a postage stamp!
• Philo Farnsworth got his big idea for television when he was just 14 years old, while plowing rows in a potato field.
• The first movies were only about one minute long.
• Early TVs were shaped like big wooden boxes with tiny screens.