John Herbert Orr

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John Herbert Orr (1911-1984) was an Alabama entrepreneur who formed Orradio Industries, Inc., a high-technology firm that made magnetic recording tape. In 1945, Orr was among the U.S. Army Intelligence officials who investigated this technology, which was originally developed in Germany during the 1930s. Orr's early knowledge allowed him to establish Orradio in 1949. When, after some uncertainty, tape became the standard medium for magnetic recorders, and as other uses such as data storage and videotape appeared, Orradio's sales expanded rapidly in the late 1950s. The company was purchased by a larger competitor, the Ampex Corporation, in 1959.

According to one story, in 1945, General Dwight D. Eisenhower wanted to record a message to the German people, which he did using captured German tape. However, the tape had not been completely erased, and Hitler's voice, so the story goes, could be heard intermittently along with that of Eisenhower. Eisenhower ordered that no more captured tape could be used, and ordered Major John Herbert Orr to use captured German scientists to set up an American tape manufacturing facility.

In 2005, a segment in the PBS series History Detectives (Car Tape Deck, Season 3, Episode 6) featured Orr and his contribution to the early magnetic tape industry.

[edit] Trivia

The call letters of defunct radio station WJHO, located in Opelika, Alabama (where Ampex had a large facility), refer to John Herbert Orr, who founded and managed the station.