Tuesday, December 13 — The important holiday business of viewing such classics as “It’s A Wonderful Life” and “A Christmas Story” on home TVs owes much to a technological advance this month 78 years ago. In December 1938, Russian-American engineer Vladimir Zworykin was awarded two patents for cathode ray tubes. One was for the iconoscope to capture video images. The other was for the kinescope, which displayed television and computer monitor images for decades until the advent of flat panel screens. Whatever the ills of TV programming, obviously the American people consider it an appliance for a wonderful life. More than 98 percent of U.S. households own at least one set, a percentage that has held steady for years and across all age groups.
You can find more facts about America’s people, places and economy, from the American Community Survey, here.
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