De Forest, Lee, 1873-1961
Person
Biography
Lee de Forest (1873-1961) served as a faculty member at Lewis Institute and conducted radio broadcast experiments at the Armour Institute of Technology at the turn of the twentieth century. During that time he conducted his first long-distance broadcasts from the roof of Main Building on Armour Institute's campus. He invented the Audion three-element vacuum tube; the resulting tube amplified electric signals and served as a fast-switching element that later would be used in digital electronics. De Forest also patented a method of recording sound on film that the movie industry would later adopt.
Found in 1 Collection or Record:
Lee de Forest recording, 1958
Collection
Identifier: 038.01.26
Description of the Collection
Fifteen minute audio recording of Lee de Forest speaking on his 85th birthday (August. 26, 1958) to thank over 60,000 Ham radio operators who sent him QSL cards in honor of his birthday. It was recorded by Harry Leonard, audiologist for Fox Studios, and played over Ham radio ARRL Headquarters in Harper, Conn. De Forest comments about how impressed he was at receiving the thousands of birthday greetings as a sign of "the high regard which radio amateurs hold toward myself." He recounts a bit...
Dates:
1958