The inventor-entrepreneur George Westinghouse was born on October 6, 1846 in New York, USA. He launched his career at a very tender age.
Westinghouse spent his earlier days working in his father’s agricultural shop, which is where he got good technical knowledge of machinery and business. When he was 15, he served as a cavalryman for almost 2 years. Later, towards the end of the Civil War, he resigned from the Army to join the Navy at the rank of Acting Third Assistant Engineer.
Interesting facts about George Westinghouse & his inventions:
- He was 19 when he obtained his very first patent for the rotary steam engine. The rotary engine is the predecessor of the internal combustion engine.
- But Westinghouse didn’t stop there; he also invented Westinghouse farm engine.
- He devised a substitute that guided derailed freight cars on rail tracks. Also he began a business to manufacture this car-replacing device.
- It was in 1869 when he obtained the patent for his most important discovery, the Air Brake. This instrument enabled trains to stop at once in case of an accident. It was a fail-safe braking system made using compressed air. The air brake concept was later adopted worldwide. Envisioning the profit behind this invention, he started a company named Westinghouse Air Brake Company in July, 1869.
Air Brake
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- In 1884, he formed the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company and developed alternating current electricity after obtaining the rights to Nikola Tesla‘s patents.
- In 1893 Westinghouse’s company got a contract to create generators that would convert Niagara Falls water energy into electricity. They successfully completed it within 7 months!
- By 1904, his companies’ total worth was over $120 million and had more than 50,000 employees.
Westinghouse had a total of 361 patents (Isn’t that great?) in his lifetime; the last patent was awarded 4 years after his death.
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