Edwin Howard Armstrong invented FM radio technology in 1933 but was crushed by RCA's legal and political assault on FM through patent litigation and FCC manipulation, ultimately leading to Armstrong's suicide in 1954 after his patents expired with only a settlement that didn't cover his legal fees.
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Lawrence LessigEvidence Quote
“Finally, just as the patents expired, RCA offered a settlement so low that it would not even cover Armstrong's lawyers' fees. Defeated, broken, and now broke, in 1954 Armstrong wrote a short note to his wife and then stepped out of a thirteenth-story window to his death.”
Created: 7/13/2026, 4:53:43 PM
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