<P> In 1903, Leonardo Torres Quevedo presented the Telekino at the Paris Academy of Science, accompanied by a brief, and making an experimental demonstration . In the same time he obtained a patent in France, Spain, Great Britain, and the United States . The Telekino consisted of a robot that executed commands transmitted by electromagnetic waves . With the Telekino, Torres - Quevedo laid down modern wireless remote - control operation principles and was a pioneer in the field of remote control . In 1906, in the presence of the king and before a great crowd, Torres successfully demonstrated the invention in the port of Bilbao, guiding a boat from the shore . Later, he would try to apply the Telekino to projectiles and torpedoes, but had to abandon the project for lack of financing . The first remote - controlled model aeroplane flew in 1932, and the use of remote control technology for military purposes was worked intensively during the Second World War, one result of this being the German Wasserfall missile . </P> <P> By the late 1930s, several radio manufacturers offered remote controls for some of their higher - end models . Most of these were connected to the set being controlled by wires, but the Philco Mystery Control (1939) was a battery - operated low - frequency radio transmitter, thus making it the first wireless remote control for a consumer electronics device . Using pulse - count modulation, this also was the first digital wireless remote control . </P> <P> The first remote intended to control a television was developed by Zenith Radio Corporation in 1950 . The remote, called "Lazy Bones", was connected to the television by a wire . A wireless remote control, the "Flashmatic", was developed in 1955 by Eugene Polley . It worked by shining a beam of light onto a photoelectric cell, but the cell did not distinguish between light from the remote and light from other sources . The Flashmatic also had to be pointed very precisely at the receiver in order to work . </P> <P> In 1956, Robert Adler developed "Zenith Space Command", a wireless remote . It was mechanical and used ultrasound to change the channel and volume . When the user pushed a button on the remote control, it clicked and struck a bar, hence the term "clicker". Each bar emitted a different frequency and circuits in the television detected this sound . The invention of the transistor made possible cheaper electronic remotes that contained a piezoelectric crystal that was fed by an oscillating electric current at a frequency near or above the upper threshold of human hearing, though still audible to dogs . The receiver contained a microphone attached to a circuit that was tuned to the same frequency . Some problems with this method were that the receiver could be triggered accidentally by naturally occurring noises, and some people could hear the piercing ultrasonic signals . </P>

When did tv's first have remote controls