| David Sarnoff was born in Uzlian, Russia, on February 27, 1891, and emmigrated to New York, New York with his family at the age of nine. At 15 years of age Sarnoff bought a telegraph key and learned Morse code. He was hired as an office boy for the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Co. of America in 1908.
In 1915, Sarnoff submitted an idea to his company - a "radio music box." "The idea", he said, "is to bring music into the house by wireless." His idea was dismissed until after General Electric purchased Marconi in 1919 and formed RCA.
In 1921 Sarnoff arranged the broadcast of the Jack Dempsey/Georges Carpentier prize fight and, within a couple of years, RCA's Radiola became the household necessity Sarnoff had envisioned.
In 1926, Sarnoff conceived the idea of linking broadcast stations together nationally and, as general manager of RCA, he formed NBC, the National Broadcasting Company.
In 1941, NBC began the first commercial television broadcasts. Under Sarnoff, NBC aired the first videotape telecast and the first made-for-television movie.
Sarnoff retired as the charmain of RCA in 1970 and died on December 12, 1971. Visitor Comments: |
