1891-1906: The Child is Father to the Man
February 27, 1891: Born to Leah and Abraham Sarnoff in Uzlian, Russia (a shtetl or village southeast of Minsk, now in Belarus; search for Uzlian here.)
1896: Abraham Sarnoff leaves for New York City.
1896-1900: Studies with his granduncle, a rabbi, in a kheder, memorizing lines of the Talmud.
July 2, 1900: Arrived New York City with his mother and two brothers via Minsk, the ports of Liepaja, Latvia; Liverpool, England; and Montreal, Canada; and New York’s Barge Office.
1900-07: Helps support family by selling penny newspapers before and after school, and singing in his synagogue choir.
June 1906: Graduates from eighth grade at the Educational Allianceon New York’s Lower East Side.
June 1906: Begins working for the Commercial Cable Telegraph Company.
September 30, 1906: Begins work as office boy for Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America.
1907-1919:Horatio Alger Comes to Life
1907: Promoted to junior wireless telegraph operator.
1908-09: Signs on as assistant telegraph operator at Marconi station at Siasconset, Nantucket Island, off Massachusetts;
promoted to full operator.
1909-10: Appointed night manager of Marconi station at Sea Gate, Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York.
1910: Transfers to management of Marconi station in Wanamaker’s Department Store, New York City
1911: Father dies; takes leave to sign on as wireless operator on S.S. Beothic out of St. John’s, Newfoundland, for seal hunting expedition; also serves on S.S. Harvard.
1912: Promoted to Marconi radio station inspector and instructor at Marconi Institute for new operators.
1913: Promoted to chief radio inspector and assistant chief engineer; helps establish first radio communications with railroad trains on the Erie Lackawanna line between Binghamton, New York, and Scranton, Pennsylvania.
1914: Permits Edwin Armstrong to demonstrate continuous wave regeneration technology at Marconi station at Belmar, New Jersey and receives reprimand from senior Marconi officials in England. Promoted to contract manager.
1915: Promoted to assistant traffic manager; makes first proposal regarding broadcast radio.
1915-18: Secretary of Institute of Radio Engineers (one of the IEEE’s founding organizations).
1917: Promoted to commercial manager.
July 4, 1917: Marries Lizette Hermant.
July 2, 1918: Becomes father of Robert W. Sarnoff.
1919-1929: Luck Favors the Prepared Mind
1919: General Electric Company (GE) buys American arm of Marconi company and incorporates its assets as Radio Corporation of America (RCA). David Sarnoff retains post as commercial manager.
January 1920: Sends memo to GE superiors on present and prospective business for RCA, including broadcasting.
April 29, 1921: Promoted to general manager of RCA.
January 8, 1921: Becomes father of Edward Sarnoff.
1922: Promoted to vice president and general manager.
December 11, 1924: Appointed lieutenant colonel, United States Army reserve.
February 23, 1927: Becomes father of Thomas W. Sarnoff.
January 1, 1929: Promoted to executive vice president.
1930-1941: Hard Times
January 3, 1930: Promoted to president, RCA.
December 23, 1931: Appointed colonel, U. S. Army reserve.
April 20, 1939: Introduces RCA’s electronic monochrome television system in broadcast from the New York World’s Fair in Queens, New York.
1941-1945: The Making of the General
1942: Called to active duty in June-July and August-October with the Army Signal Corps.
March-December 1944: Called to active duty to develop and implement electronic news coverage systems for D-Day and the liberation of Paris.
December 7, 1944: Appointed brigadier general, U. S. Army.
1945-1956: Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained
January 1, 1949: Promoted to chairman of the board, RCA.
September 30, 1951: RCA Laboratories facility in Princeton, New Jersey, rededicated as David Sarnoff Research Center.
1957-1971: Imagining the Future
September 30, 1967: David Sarnoff Library dedicated in Princeton.
Summer 1968: Suffers attack of shingles and undergoes first of three mastoid operations to stop infection.
December 31, 1969: Appointed honorary chairman of the board of RCA.
December 12, 1971: Dies of cardiac arrest at home; buried at Kensico Cemetery, Valhalla, New York