We can thank this man for making our gaming PCs spew rainbows

pcgamer.com:

There you go, lavishly slapping RGB on your extreme gaming PC build(opens in new tab), but have you ever given a second thought to the man behind those bright lights? M. George Craford poured 30 years of his life into researching these little light-emitting wonders, and is generally held as the unsung hero of LEDs. This is his story.

With space exploration at the forefront of his mind, Craford started his journey into tech in the '50s, before LEDs had even been invented (thanks for the info IEEE Spectrum(opens in new tab)).

Starting early, a family friend and children's science author Illa Podendorf(opens in new tab) began feeding Craford's inquisitive mind with all kinds of texts. Evidently these sparked his curiosity, because the kid eventually found himself joining the American Association of Variable Star Observers, where building rockets became just a normal part of his repertoire.

A super basic intro into tech then.

Alongside rockets he constructed all kinds of contraptions, as well as other, more chemical-based experiments—one time even cracking his home lab's window with some uncontained, explosive exploit.

Moving on to study Physics at the University of Iowa, lecturer James Van Allen(opens in new tab) inspired Craford to continue in the field of space science, but his interest in space dwindled throughout the summer following his BA, and soon his journey lead more along the route of semiconductors. Van Allen had pointed Craford to the solid-state physics program at the University of Illinois, where he went to complete his Masters and PhD.

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