The Cathode Ray Tube Amusement Device
On January 25, 1947, Thomas Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann filed a U.S. patent request for an invention which they called the Cathode Ray Tube Amusement Device. It was a machine with knobs and buttons that a person could use to manipulate a cathode ray tube beam (a cathode ray tube was a type of computer monitor or T.V. set) to fire "missiles" at targets. The patent was issued on December 14, 1948. It was very complex for 1948, and it was created long before most people assume video games were first created.