Harry David Belock (April 10, 1908 – November 8, 1999) was an American electronics inventor, engineer and entrepreneur.

Biography

He was born April 10, 1908, in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Belock was a self-taught scientist. He was described as one of the world's greatest electronic scientists without a string of college degrees after his name. An early occupation was construction of one of

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

's first radio stations, WARS, atop the Shelburne Hotel. Belock spent 1933–1935 as a sound engineer in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

and years as a freelance inventor. He designed transmitters and sound-effects equipment for

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

. He also worked for

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...

, troubleshooting the

photo finish A photo finish occurs in a sporting race when multiple competitors cross the finishing line at nearly the same time. As the naked eye may not be able to determine which of the competitors crossed the line first, a photo or video taken at the fini ...

timer system at

Del Mar Racetrack The Del Mar Fairgrounds is an event venue in Del Mar, California. It hosts the annual San Diego County Fair. The venue sits on a property along the Pacific Ocean coastline. It includes the Del Mar Racetrack, built in 1936 by the Del Mar Thoroug ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and after, Belock developed the REAC computer for Reeves Instrument Corporation (for which he became a vice president and general manager). The REAC was one of the first electronic computing machines, and it was used for the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

's Project Cyclone. Belock joined with Helen Neushaefer (president of Neushaefer Cosmetics) to found the Belock Instrument Corporation in November 1950. The company prospered over the next four years – going from no sales to $10,600,000 and seven staff to over 1,200. Defense electronics equipment was designed and built in a building in

College Point, Queens College Point is a working-middle-class neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It is bounded to the south by Whitestone Expressway and Flushing; to the east by 138th Street and Malba/ Whitestone; to the north by the East River; ...

. The New York Times described Harry Belock in March 1955 as a thin intense 47-year-old. He was an avid amateur golfer, and enjoyed using his flush deck Chris-Craft yacht, the Bar-L-Rick, for engineering projects and cruising. His home and yacht were filled with electronic devices. In 1958, Belock joined with producer Bert Whyte to start

Everest Records Everest Records was a record label based in Bayside, Long Island, started by Harry D. Belock and Bert Whyte in May 1958. It was devoted mainly to classical music. History The idea for starting a label was related by electronics inventor Harry ...

, a division of his Belock Instrument Corporation. Belock patented five inventions between 1941 and 1961. He served as a consultant to

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General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales and fifth largest in the Unit ...

Pomona Division, and the

Applied Physics Laboratory The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (or simply Applied Physics Laboratory, or APL) is a not-for-profit university-affiliated research center (UARC) in Howard County, Maryland. It is affiliated with Johns Hopkins University ...

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

. He also started Harry Belock Associates, an engineering consulting company. Belock was awarded the U.S. Navy Distinguished Public Service Award in 1965. He was a fellow of the

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an American 501(c)(3) public charity professional organization for electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and other related disciplines. The IEEE has a corporate office ...

. Belock received a Doctorate in Science degree from the

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York. It has an additional campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The institute was founded in 18 ...

in 1967, where he was also Alumnus of the Year. He was also a member of the engineering honor society

Tau Beta Pi The Tau Beta Pi Association (commonly Tau Beta Pi, , or TBP) is the oldest engineering honor society and the second oldest collegiate honor society in the United States. It honors engineering students in American universities who have shown a ...

. He died November 8, 1999, in

Long Beach, New York Long Beach is an oceanfront city in Nassau County, New York, United States. It takes up a central section of the Long Beach Barrier Island, which is the westernmost of the outer barrier islands off Long Island's South Shore. As of the 2020 ...

Family history

Belock's parents were Russian immigrants: father Nathan (1876–1972) and mother Mattie. He had three sisters: Mary, Tillie, and Honnie Duncan. He was married to Lilyan Davidoff in Florida in 1941. Lilyan, born November 12, 1910, preceded him in death on July 25, 1984.

Biography

Family history

Further reading