The Famous Faces of Clan Baird

As proud Scots, we all know our country is famous for many things and one of these things is, our incredible ability to invent. We have invented some of the world’s most important things and John Logie Baird's contribution was no exception. He created something that I could truly not live without, the television. John was born on the 14 August in 1888 in Helensburgh, Scotland. He was the youngest of four children of the Reverend John Baird and Jessie Morrison Inglis. As a young man, he studied electrical engineering at Glasgow University but dropped out and never returned to his academic pursuits due to the outbreak of war in Europe. After the first world war, he worked as an engineer until he became interested in the transmission of moving pictures with sound. From this experimentation he demonstrated the very first working television on 26 January 1926 followed by the colour television in 1928. This talented Baird then began to transmit TV signals from Glasgow to London, developing this further with signals from London to New York. John was on the cutting edge of scientific discovery and that great British bastion, the BBC, used his technology from 1929 to 1937. John Logie Baird is truly one of the best inventors of his generation and I can’t thank him enough as now when I get bored, I can sit and watch Netflix!

We are going to stay with stay with amazing Scottish inventors as we discuss the crazy life of Charles Baird. Charles Baird played a huge part in the advancement of the Russian Industrial revolution as he created the first ever Russian Steamboat and ran a monopoly on this business for over 30 years. The stories of the Scottish diaspora get crazier and crazier day by day! Charles was born in Bothkenner, Scotland in 1766 into a poor family. Despite this, he studied Engineering at Edinburgh University and enjoyed a placement at Carron Company, where they produced guns and traded with Russia. By 1785 Charles Baird was in sole charge of the casting and finishing of guns, and in 1786 accompanied the director of this company to St Petersburg when the Russian government invited them to establish a canon foundry there. When Baird arrived, he began to create the technology required to drive steamboats which led him to start up his own business. From here he made himself an important part of Russian society gaining accolades from Russian Royalty. Both Nicholas I and Alexander I gave Charles the "Order of St Vladimir 3rd class", one of the highest accolades to gain in Russian society at that time. For better or for worst Charles’s invention made the world what it is today. As you have read, the Baird family have made quite the impression on the world, keep reading to find out who is up next...

Moving away from the Baird’s amazing inventors we change our focus to Star Trek, yes Star Trek. The Baird Clan has links to this iconic production through the Star Trek: Nemesis director, Stuart Baird. Stuart was born in Uxbridge, England in 1974, and it is said that he showed interest in the film throughout his childhood, which led to his aspirations to work for Warner Brothers as an editor. Stuart Baird has been involved in some of the largest film franchises of all time from James Bond, Mission Impossible to Die Hard. The majority of Stuart’s success came from his work as an editor receiving two "Best Editing" Oscar nominations for Gorillas in the Mist and Superman, followed by, in his later career, further nominations for Best Editing BAFTA’s for both Skyfall and Casino Royal. I can personally attest to his editing skills as I am still hurt from a certain scene in Skyfall (I won’t spoil anything just in case). Overall, Stuart Baird has had a truly amazing career and will go down as one of the best action movie editors ever!

Now to something that slightly terrifies me, puppets! Bil Baird has been labelled as one of the forefront puppeteers of the 20^th century with a career spanning over 60 years. Bil’s interest in puppets began when he was 8 and his father gave him a simple string puppet. The fascination for puppets continued until he was 14 by which time he was making his own puppets and giving performances of “Treasure Island” in his attic. After Bil graduated from the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts he moved to Paris where he performed in cafes for a living. Whilst living in Paris he realised he needed a new challenge inspiring a move to New York to work for Tony Sarg, the largest puppeteer in the world at the time. After years of learning from Tony Sarg he began performing by himself, with the first show “Baird Marionettes” gaining international acclaim following performances in nightclubs on Broadway. Bil Baird was a clear success and realising this, the United States State Department decided to send him on a tour of India, Nepal, Afghanistan, and Russia to perform for the people. This sounds like a movie in itself! When he returned Bil continued to have success and his puppets were even used in the “Sound of Music”. In commemoration of his amazing work “The Bil Baird Memorial Exhibit” opened at the Charles H. MacNider Art Museum in his hometown of Mason City - one to visit for all our American Baird's!

We are going to stay in America for this next famous face, however we are moving from fake animals to real ones with Dale Baird. Dale Baird can only be described as the greatest horse racing trainer ever. Perhaps it was in his blood as Dale was born in Illinois in 1935 into a family of horse racing success, with his father already a highly successful trainer. Dale began his career in horse racing as a jockey at local fair circuits until he eventually grew to be too tall. I’m jealous of Dale already, I wish I grew to be too tall! Thereafter Dale moved his efforts towards training and won his first race in 1961 at Ellis Park Racecourse in Kentucky. Despite this, the majority of his success came at Mountaineer Racetrack where he won the training title for 20 years straight! It is crazy to think Dale almost won this award for as long as I have been alive. That's not all though, his accolades continue as Dale broke two unbelievable records, for being the first trainer to win over 9,000 races and the first trainer to win 300 races in a row! For achieving this great feat, he was awarded the Special Eclipse Award by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association. We can only hope that Dale gained his equine knowledge from his Baird ancestors in Scotland!