1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,920 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:08,160 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hi, I'm Eves, and you're listening to This 3 00:00:08,280 --> 00:00:11,399 Speaker 1: Day in History Class, a show that makes time travel 4 00:00:11,520 --> 00:00:24,000 Speaker 1: a little bit easier. Today is December nineteen. The day 5 00:00:24,079 --> 00:00:28,880 Speaker 1: was December fourteenth. Ninety A patent was issued for the 6 00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:33,240 Speaker 1: cathode ray tube amusement device, a predecessor to early video games. 7 00:00:34,320 --> 00:00:38,519 Speaker 1: German scientists Carl Ferdinand Braun invented the first cathode ray 8 00:00:38,560 --> 00:00:43,479 Speaker 1: tube scanning device in A cathode ray tube or CRT, 9 00:00:44,120 --> 00:00:47,520 Speaker 1: is a vacuum tube that produces images when an electron 10 00:00:47,560 --> 00:00:52,440 Speaker 1: beam hits a phosphorescent surface. American engineer Allan B. Dumont 11 00:00:52,560 --> 00:00:56,880 Speaker 1: made the first long lasting, commercially practical CRT for television 12 00:00:57,680 --> 00:01:00,360 Speaker 1: in nineteen thirty one. He started his company, Allen B. 13 00:01:00,480 --> 00:01:03,400 Speaker 1: Dumont Laboratories, and before the end of the decade, the 14 00:01:03,440 --> 00:01:07,640 Speaker 1: company was manufacturing some of the earliest commercial television receivers 15 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:12,480 Speaker 1: with the improved CRT s. He also established the Dumont Network, 16 00:01:12,680 --> 00:01:15,480 Speaker 1: a TV network used to help promote his TV sales. 17 00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:21,080 Speaker 1: Physicist Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. Had begun researching the cathode 18 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:23,720 Speaker 1: ray tube while he was getting his doctorate in physics 19 00:01:23,760 --> 00:01:27,319 Speaker 1: at Cornell University, and he was hired as research director 20 00:01:27,360 --> 00:01:31,520 Speaker 1: at Dumont Laboratories in New Jersey. During World War Two, 21 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:35,760 Speaker 1: Dumont Laboratories shifted its focus to wartime technology like radar. 22 00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:40,080 Speaker 1: Sel ray Man was also an engineer at Dumont, and 23 00:01:40,120 --> 00:01:43,679 Speaker 1: he and Goldsmith were likely inspired by radar displays when 24 00:01:43,680 --> 00:01:47,120 Speaker 1: they developed the design for the cathode ray tube amusement device. 25 00:01:48,280 --> 00:01:51,480 Speaker 1: The device was made up of resistors, a saw tooth generator, 26 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:56,160 Speaker 1: and a CRT. The game simulated firing missiles at targets. 27 00:01:56,800 --> 00:01:59,040 Speaker 1: The player would use a knob to aim the beam 28 00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:03,000 Speaker 1: generated by the the RT at a target on the screen. Targets, 29 00:02:03,040 --> 00:02:05,880 Speaker 1: like pictures of airplanes, had to be placed manually on 30 00:02:05,920 --> 00:02:09,200 Speaker 1: the screen with a piece of paper. They filed the 31 00:02:09,200 --> 00:02:12,920 Speaker 1: patent for the amusement device in January of nine and 32 00:02:12,919 --> 00:02:17,959 Speaker 1: the application was granted on December four n The patent 33 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:20,960 Speaker 1: said that quote the game can be made more spectacular 34 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:23,480 Speaker 1: and the interest theory in both from the players and 35 00:02:23,520 --> 00:02:26,920 Speaker 1: the observer standpoint can be increased by making a visible 36 00:02:26,960 --> 00:02:29,480 Speaker 1: explosion of the cathode ray beam take place when the 37 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:34,000 Speaker 1: target is hit. That could be done by defocusing the beam. 38 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:36,360 Speaker 1: It was the first known time in history when people 39 00:02:36,400 --> 00:02:39,520 Speaker 1: proposed using a CRT to play a game, but the 40 00:02:39,560 --> 00:02:43,680 Speaker 1: device was never manufactured and it had no significant influence 41 00:02:43,880 --> 00:02:47,680 Speaker 1: on the development of the video game industry. It's not 42 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:50,760 Speaker 1: clear exactly why the game was never actually built, but 43 00:02:50,960 --> 00:02:53,639 Speaker 1: it could have been because Dumont lacked the resources to 44 00:02:53,720 --> 00:02:57,880 Speaker 1: fund the project. The cathode ray tube amusement device was 45 00:02:57,919 --> 00:03:00,480 Speaker 1: not the first video game, a title that some have 46 00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:03,720 Speaker 1: awarded it. There was no video signal, no computer, and 47 00:03:03,760 --> 00:03:07,600 Speaker 1: no software program. It was a simple electro mechanical device. 48 00:03:08,760 --> 00:03:12,440 Speaker 1: All that said, the invention is notable in its anticipation 49 00:03:12,520 --> 00:03:16,040 Speaker 1: of early video games, and it's considered the earliest recorded 50 00:03:16,080 --> 00:03:20,320 Speaker 1: interactive electronic game. I'm Eve Jeff Coo and hopefully you 51 00:03:20,360 --> 00:03:23,240 Speaker 1: know a little more about history today than you did yesterday. 52 00:03:24,160 --> 00:03:26,600 Speaker 1: No any fellow history buffs who would enjoy the show. 53 00:03:27,160 --> 00:03:29,680 Speaker 1: You can share it with them. We're on Twitter, Facebook, 54 00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:35,080 Speaker 1: and Instagram at t B I h C Podcast. If 55 00:03:35,160 --> 00:03:37,640 Speaker 1: emails your thing, send us a note at this day 56 00:03:37,800 --> 00:03:41,480 Speaker 1: at I heeart media dot com. Thanks for listening. We'll 57 00:03:41,480 --> 00:03:52,120 Speaker 1: see you here again tomorrow with another episode. For more 58 00:03:52,160 --> 00:03:54,680 Speaker 1: podcasts from My Heart Radio vis the I heart Radio app, 59 00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:57,400 Speaker 1: Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.