Electric clock and electrochemical fax
Reloj eléctrico y fax electroquímico
- Date
- 1841-1843 · confidence high
- Place
- London, England, United Kingdom
- Credited to
- Alexander Bain
- People
- 👤 Alexander Bain1818–1903
- Field
- Communication
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
The first clock driven by electricity (1841) and the first device for transmitting images along a telegraph line, scanning with a synchronised pendulum (1843 patent). It anticipated remote time synchronisation and the fax.
Bain went to law with Wheatstone over priority for the electric clock; his fax was never commercialised, unlike Caselli's pantelegraph (Paris-Lyon, 1865).
What it led to
- Synchronised master and slave clocks in stations and factories
- The fax (Caselli's pantelegraph, 1865) and image transmission
- The high-speed chemical telegraph
Built on
Made possible
- Early fax (wirephoto)1902–1924
- Caselli's pantelegraph
- Telegraphic time synchronisation