When was Lee de Forest born?
Lee de Forest
Lee de Forest (August 26, 1873 – June 30, 1961) was an American inventor, self-described "Father of Radio", and a pioneer in the development of sound-on-film recording used for motion pictures. He had over 180 patents, but also a tumultuous career—he boasted that he made, then lost, four fortunes. He was also involved in several major patent lawsuits, spent a substantial part of his income on legal bills, and was even tried (and acquitted) for mail fraud. His most famous invention, in 1906, was the three-element "Audion" (triode) vacuum tube, the first practical amplification device. Although De Forest had only a limited understanding of how it worked, it was the foundation of the field of electronics, making possible radio broadcasting, long distance telephone lines, and talking motion pictures, among countless other applications.
Allen B. DuMont
By 1928, DuMont was searching for new opportunities and was wooed by Dr. Lee De Forest, a radio pioneer who developed the audion tube, the original voice amplifier for radio reception. De Forest had a checkered career as an inventor and had several failed business ventures. DuMont was hired as vice president and production manager for radio tubes. He revamped the factory with newly designed machinery: "a high speed sealing machine, automatic grid winding and welding machine, base branding machine, basing and wire cutting machine, high-frequency bombarder and numerous tube-characteristic test sets and life racks." Factory capacity was increased to 30,000 tubes per day.