William (Bill) Powell Lear (June 26, 1902 – May 14, 1978) was an American inventor and businessman. He is best known for founding the Lear Jet Corporation, a manufacturer of business jets. He also invented the first car radio and developed the 8-track cartridge, an audio tape system which was widely used in the 1960s and 1970s.
Lear was born in Hannibal, Missouri as an only child. He later moved with his family to Chicago, where he attended schoo...
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William (Bill) Powell Lear (June 26, 1902 – May 14, 1978) was an American inventor and businessman. He is best known for founding the Lear Jet Corporation, a manufacturer of business jets. He also invented the first car radio and developed the 8-track cartridge, an audio tape system which was widely used in the 1960s and 1970s.
Lear was born in Hannibal, Missouri as an only child. He later moved with his family to Chicago, where he attended school until the eighth grade. He enlisted in the United States Navy during World War I, serving as a radio operator. Lear had no formal education past the eighth grade other than the courses which he took in the Navy.
In the 1920s, Lear and a partner, Elmer Wavering, invented the first practical car radio, calling it "Motorola" (a combination of motor and Victrola). The two couldn't afford the booth fees at an automobile trade show to advertise their new invention, so they parked outside of the convention center's parking lot and played the radio...
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