retroelectro
Retro Electro Fun Fact: Sir Hiram Maxim was one of the members present at the 1881 International Electrical Congress when the units of measure, like Ohm and Volt, were standardized for the first time. Read more about that event in the Retro Electro article ‘Ohm’s Day.’ (Link: https://emedia.digikey.com/view/639112496/21/)
George Westinghouse and the air brake George Westinghouse Jr. was born in 1846 in New York. His father owned a successful machine shop and Westinghouse was quick to learn the trade. Following his naval service in the Civil War at age nineteen, he received his first patent for a rotary steam engine. His first groundbreaking invention was the air brake for trains, which he patented in 1869 at the age of twenty-two.
Hiram Maxim with his magnum opus, the Maxim Machine Gun.
One of the major innovations from Stanley during this period was a ‘lamp regulator.’ Prior to this, a lamp’s brightness would fluctuate constantly depending on the generator’s load. This invention would help keep a steady current through the bulb’s filament, allowing for a consistent brightness. This caught the attention of railway industrialist George Westinghouse. Soon after, Swan Electric Lamp Company was sold to Brush Electric Light in 1884.
After Maxim left the country, Stanley went to work for the Swan Electric Lamp Company in Boston. While working at the Swan Electric Lamp Company, Stanley was responsible for numerous patents related to improvements in incandescent lamps. For the next few years, he worked for Swan in a private lab in New Jersey. It was here that he met his wife, Lila Courtney Wetmore, with whom he would have six sons and three daughters.
George Westinghouse
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