The first commercial fax system was invented and patented in the United States in 1863 by an Italian priest, Giovanni Caselli, who helped establish a fax line between Paris and Lyons for five years, 1865-1870. At the time, Giovanni was considered “some kind of a nut” with his scientific “junk” scattered all around his home. The Italian priest’s small home looked more like a mad scientist’s workshop than the residence of a man of the cloth.

Giovanni worked alongside Alexander Bain, who was an expert clockmaker, for seven long years from 1857-1864, refining and improving the fax machine and Bain’s clock-driven pendulum idea.

Finally, in 1863 Giovanni Caselli made major improvements to the fax design:

• He installed a separate clock in the transmitting end that synchronized the pendulums on each perfectly.

• His fax did not require the original to be scratched in metal or written in special ink. Ordinary ink worked.

• Originals could be reproduced in the same size or reduced.

• Different messages could simultaneously be transmitted through a single wire.

While decorative and flowery pictures were occasionally faxed, the fax line was predominantly used to carry stock market information between 1866 and 1870.

Eventually the fax caught the attention of the press, mainly because they could clearly see its benefits to their industry. Newspapers and magazines praised the new invention for its public service.

“Who could do better?”

Wrote a journalist at the time.  But the interruption of the 1870 war and the siege of Paris, saw the era of the mechanical fax machine with their pendulums and clockworks coming to an end.

At the turn of the century, mankind had upgraded to the modern fax machines that used light beams to read and write and had replaced the swinging pendulums.

Pictures by Fax – In 1902 physicist Arthur Korn of Germany dramatically improved English inventor Frederick Bakewell’s rotating drum idea. He constructed his cylinder out of glass, positioned a selenium cell inside, and wrapped the intended fax around the cylinder. By shinning a light through the picture and onto the selenium, Korn’s machine accurately converted the picture into electrical signals. On the other end, the signal was converted back to light and was shone on photographic film. As a result, a permanent copy was created.

Arthur Korn’s system was an overwhelming success, especially for the newspaper business, which was rapidly growing in circulation at the time. The fax machine was quickly becoming indispensable to the press and realizing the machine’s value in the competitive newspaper business, the French newspaper at the time called L’Illustration bought out Arthur’s rights to the machine in 1906 and monopolized its use in France.

As I said before, we have become a very interactive and open world. Privacy is now a highly sought commodity!

Especially for Public Figures and Celebrities and I can seriously understand all the reasons why. However, let me not deviate from my own message which I’m trying to communicate. (Lol!)