Did You Know ...

...that one person who claimed to be the inventor of the television is Russian émigré Vladimir Zworykin? In 1929 David Sarnoff, founder of RCA, asked Zworykin what it would take to develop TV for commercial use. He said: a year and a half and $100,000. In reality, it took 20 years and $50 million! Before his death in 1982 at the age of 92, Zworykin said of his invention: "The technique is wonderful. It is beyond my expectations. But the programs! I would never let my children even come close to this thing."

(Directly from the PatentStorm website. I'm spending my morning sifting through US Patents, and the tidbits on the side make it much more awesome.)

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