Lee de Forest (August 26, 1873 – June 30, 1961) was an American inventor, self-described "Father of Radio", and a pioneer in the development of sound-on-film recording used for motion pictures. He had over 180 patents, but also a tumultuous career—he boasted that he made, then lost, four fortunes. He was also involved in several major patent lawsuits, spent a substantial part of his income on legal bills, and was even tried (and acquitted) for mail fraud. His most famous invention, in 1906, was the three-element "grid Audion", which, although he had only a limited understanding of how it worked, provided the foundation for the development of vacuum tube technology.
Lee de Forest was born in 1873 in Council Bluffs, Iowa, the son of Anna Margaret (née Robbins) and Henry Swift DeForest. He was a direct descendant of Jessé de Forest, the leader of a group of Walloon Huguenots who fled Europe in the 17th Century due to religious persecution.
De Forest's father was a Congregational Church minister who hoped his son would also become a pastor. In 1879 the elder de Forest became president of the American Missionary Association's Talladega College in Talladega, Alabama, a school "open to all of either sex, without regard to sect, race, or color", and which primarily educated African-Americans. Many of the local white citizens resented the school and its mission, and Lee spent most of his youth in Talladega isolated from the white community, with several close friends among the black children of the town.
The name de Forest or De Forest may refer to:
DeForest, is a village in Dane County, Wisconsin, United States, along the Yahara River. The population was 8,936 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The village was named for Isaac De Forest, who in 1856 bought the land on which the village sits today. Its name was long spelled "De Forest," but has since been changed to "DeForest."
DeForest is located at 43°14′45″N 89°20′45″W / 43.24583°N 89.34583°W / 43.24583; -89.34583 (43.245751, -89.345869).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 7.49 square miles (19.40 km2), of which, 7.43 square miles (19.24 km2) of it is land and 0.06 square miles (0.16 km2) is water.
As of the census of 2010, there were 8,936 people, 3,400 households, and 2,446 families residing in the village. The population density was 1,202.7 inhabitants per square mile (464.4/km2). There were 3,499 housing units at an average density of 470.9 per square mile (181.8/km2). The racial makeup of the village was 93.3% White, 2.1% African American, 0.3% Native American, 1.5% Asian, 1.2% from other races, and 1.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.6% of the population.
De Forest is a lunar impact crater on the far side of the Moon. It is located in the far southern hemisphere, to the west of the large walled plain Zeeman and due south of the crater Numerov. Because of its proximity to the southern pole, this crater receives sunlight at an oblique angle when it is on the illuminated half of the Moon.
This is a relatively young formation with features that have not been significantly worn by impacts. The rim is sharp-edged and circular, but somewhat irregular with a small outer rampart. The wide inner wall has multiple terraces, and sections near the rim give the appearance of slumping. At the midpoint of the irregular floor is a relatively large, angular central peak.
By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to De Forest.