Franz Uchatius, the second son of a former artillery officer and instructor in the cadet school who resigned after 19 years’ service to become street commissioner in a small Austrian town, was born on October 20, 1811, at Theresienfeld, Wiener Neustadt, Austria. The father had married a woman from Bavaria and lived comfortably, for in addition to his town job he managed an estate and derived income from an agricultural sowing machine which he had invented. After elementary and high school education near his home, Franz was apprenticed to a Viennese merchant. His father had to pay an annual fee of some 300 gulden (about $120) for the privilege. Franz, a small, sensitive boy, was very unhappy as an apprentice, having no interest in merchandising. After much persuasion, for his father evidently had found life happier outside the army, Franz received permission to join his eldest brother, Joseph, in the artillery. There was another difficulty. Franz was under the minimum height established for that branch of the army. Special permission had to be received from Archduke Ludwig, the youngest son of Emperor Francis and the general inspector of artillery, before he could enter the artillery school. But everything was arranged and on August 5, 1829, when Uchatius was 17, he was taken to the Rennweger armory in Vienna to start training as an artillery sub-cadet. Uchatius was especially interested in physics, mathematics and chemistry. Chemistry was not highly regarded then and was usually reserved for non-commissioned officers. Uchatius overcame this prejudice by becoming the laboratory assistant to the professor. Military advancement came slowly to Uchatius. At 25 he was a gunner but also was able to attend lectures at the Polytechnical School. The next year, 1837, he again became assistant to the chemistry professor at the artillery school, keeping this position until 1841. During that period he served as special tutor to Turkish officers, then studying in Vienna, and also worked in the gun foundry. Finally in 1843, at the age of 32, he was commissioned a lieutenant. It was at this period that he did his first inventing. A special fuse for guns was his initial achievement. Somewhat later he invented the first European hydrocarbon lamp. This was a special lantern designed for use aboard ship. It was so constructed that it would not go out even when completely overturned. A modification of this lamp was used by Uchatius in one model of his pre-film motion picture projector. The description of Uchatius’ “Apparatus for the presentation of motion pictures upon a wall” was not published until 1853. The account appeared in the _Sitzungsberichte_ of the Kaiserliche Akademie der Wissenschaften of Vienna.