Lee de Forest

Lee de Forest was an American electrical engineer who invented the Audion, a three-element vacuum tube patented in 1908 that became the first practical electronic amplifier and made long-distance radio, telephony and eventually talking motion pictures possible. He also developed Phonofilm, an early sound-on-film system for synchronizing audio with motion pictures, and held more than 300 patents over his career. His regeneration-circuit claims led to a protracted patent dispute with fellow inventor Edwin Armstrong that was litigated up to the United States Supreme Court, and although the courts ultimately favored de Forest's priority claim, most engineers and historians credit Armstrong with the more significant technical insight. De Forest received the Institute of Radio Engineers Medal of Honor in 1922 and an honorary Academy Award in 1960 for his pioneering contributions to sound film, but he died with little of the wealth his inventions generated for others.