IN: Lee de Forest was born in 1873 in Council Bluffs, Iowa, the son of Anna Margaret (nee Robbins) and Henry Swift DeForest. He was a direct descendant of Jesse 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 educated primarily African-Americans.

One of de Forest's areas of research at Federal Telegraph was improving the reception of signals, and he came up with the idea of strengthening the audio frequency output from a grid Audion by feeding it into a second tube for additional amplification. He called this a "cascade amplifier", which eventually consisted of chaining together up to three Audions. At this time the American Telephone and Telegraph Company was researching ways to amplify telephone signals to provide better long-distance service, and it was recognized that de Forest's device had potential as a telephone line repeater. In mid-1912 an associate, John Stone Stone, contacted AT&T to arrange for de Forest to demonstrate his invention. It was found that de Forest's "gassy" version of the Audion could not handle even the relatively low voltages used by telephone lines. (Due to the way he constructed the tubes, de Forest's Audions would cease to operate with too high a vacuum.) However, careful research by Dr. Harold D. Arnold and his team at AT&T's Western Electric subsidiary determined that by improving the tube's design, it could be more fully evacuated, and the high vacuum allowed it to successfully operate at telephone line voltages. With these changes the Audion evolved into a modern electron-discharge vacuum tube, using electron flows rather than ions. (Dr. Irving Langmuir at the General Electric Corporation made similar findings, and both he and Arnold attempted to patent the "high vacuum" construction, but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1931 that this modification could not be patented). After a delay of ten months, in July 1913 AT&T, through a third party who disguised his link to the telephone company, purchased the wire rights to seven Audion patents for $50,000. De Forest had hoped for a higher payment, but was again in bad financial shape and was unable to bargain for more. In 1915, AT&T used the innovation to conduct the first transcontinental telephone calls, in conjunction with the Panama-Pacific International Exposition at San Francisco.

What kinds of things could be done with audio frequency amplification?

OUT: Telegraph Company was researching ways to amplify telephone signals

IN: Michael Kevin Taylor (born 17 January 1949) is an English musician, best known as a former member of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (1966-69) and the Rolling Stones (1969-74). He has appeared on some of the Stones' classic albums including Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main St..

Taylor was born to a working-class family in Welwyn Garden City, but was raised in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England, where his father worked as a fitter (machinist) for the De Havilland aircraft company. He began playing guitar at age nine, learning to play from his mother's younger brother. As a teenager, he formed bands with schoolmates and started performing concerts under names such as The Juniors and the Strangers. They also appeared on television and put out a single. Part of the band was recruited for a new group called The Gods, which included Ken Hensley (later of Uriah Heep fame). In 1966, The Gods opened for Cream at the Starlite Ballroom in Wembley. In 1965, at age 16, Taylor went to see a John Mayall's Bluesbreakers performance at "The Hop" Woodhall Community Centre, Welwyn Garden City. On the night in question, I had gone to The Hop with some guys from our band, former schoolmates and Ex-Juniors Mick Taylor and Alan Shacklock. It was after John Mayall had finished his first set without a guitarist that it became clear that for some reason Eric Clapton was not going to show up. A group of local musicians, which included myself, Robert 'Jab' Als, Herbie Sparks, and others, along with three local guitarists--Alan Shacklock, Mick Casey (formerly of the Trekkas) and Mick Taylor--were in attendance. Taylor himself has said after seeing that Clapton hadn't appeared, but that his guitar had already been set up on the stage, he approached John Mayall during the interval to ask if he could play with them. Taylor mentioned that he'd heard their albums and knew some of the songs, and after a moment of deliberation, Mayall agreed. Taylor amended, "I wasn't thinking that this was a great opportunity... I just really wanted to get up on stage and play the guitar." Taylor played the second set with Mayall's band, and after winning Mayall's respect, they exchanged phone numbers. This encounter proved to be pivotal in Taylor's career when Mayall began to look for a guitarist to fill Peter Green's vacancy the following year. Mayall contacted Taylor, and invited him to take Green's place. Taylor made his debut with the Bluesbreakers at the Manor House, an old blues club in north London. For those in the music scene the night was an event... "Let's go and see this 17-year-old kid try and replace Eric". Taylor toured and recorded the album Crusade with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. From 1966 to 1969, Taylor developed a guitar style that is blues-based with Latin and jazz influences. He is the guitarist on the Bluesbreaker albums Diary of a Band, Bare Wires, and Blues from Laurel Canyon. Later on in his career, he further developed his skills as a slide guitarist.

Where was he born?

OUT:
Taylor was born to a working-class family in Welwyn Garden City, but