1870-1945

German physicist who invented the first practical photoelectric facsimile system. A professor of physics at the Berlin Institute of Technology, in 1904 Korn developed a device to transmit pictures from one place to another over electric wires. The system used the light-sensitive element selenium to convert the different tones of a scanned image into a varying electric current. He also developed a phototelegraph, which enabled aircraft to pick-up weather maps and aerial pictures and which was widely used by European military authorities.