Allen B. DuMont

Life & Legacy

Allen Balcom DuMont (; January 29, 1901 – November 14, 1965) was an American electronics engineer, scientist, and inventor who improved the cathode-ray tube in 1931 for use in television receivers. Seven years later he manufactured and sold the first commercially practical television set to the public. In June 1938, his Model 180 television receiver was the first all-electronic television set sold to the public, a few months prior to RCA's first TV set in April 1939. In 1946, DuMont founded the first television network to be licensed, the DuMont Television Network, by linking station WABD (named for DuMont, later becoming WNEW and then WNYW) in New York City to station W3XWT, which later became WTTG, in Washington, D.C. WTTG was named for Thomas T. Goldsmith, DuMont's Vice President of Research, and his best friend. DuMont's successes in television picture tubes, TV sets and components and his involvement in commercial TV broadcasting made him the first millionaire in the business.