DuMont demonstrates a mechanical television receiver to an interested group of industrialists sometime before 1930. Allen Balcom DuMont (1901-1965) was an American scientist and inventor best known for improvements to the cathode ray tube in 1931 for use in television receivers. Seven years later he manufactured and sold the first commercially practical television set to the public. In June 1938, his Model 180 television receiver was the first all-electronic television set ever sold to the public, a few months prior to RCA's first set in April 1939. During the early years of World War II, DuMont received special government contracts to provide large 36" wide cathode ray tubes. These special tubes allowed scientists working on the Manhattan Project to study the action of accelerated electrons. DuMont produced black and white televisions in the 1940s and 1950s that were generally regarded as offering highest quality and durability. DuMont sold his manufacturing operations in 1960. The television manufacturing division was sold to Emerson Radio. His research laboratory became part of Fairchild Camera and later developed semiconductor microchips.