George Westinghouse
American inventor and businessman (1846-1914) · United States · Scientists · Died at 67
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Something wrong?He bet everything on alternating current when Edison's direct current seemed unstoppable - and won the contract to light the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, then Niagara Falls. Before that, he'd already revolutionized railroads with compressed air brakes.
A life in dates
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George Westinghouse
Daniel Chester French
Erskine Manor, Lenox, MA.png?width=1200)
Erskine Park, Massachusetts, built by George Westinghouse on Senator Elizur Smith's estate, Highlawn farm (cropped)
Erskine Park, Massachusetts, built by George Westinghouse on Senator Elizur Smith's estate, Highlawn farm
Geo. Westinghouse LCCN2014685004
Geo. Westinghouse, Jr. LCCN2014683518
George & Marguerite Westinghouse as a young married coupleAwards
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George Westinghouse Jr. was born October 6, 1846, and by 1869 had founded the Westinghouse Air Brake Company after inventing a train braking system using compressed air that transformed rail safety worldwide. His engineers went on to develop track-switching and signaling systems, spawning Union Switch & Signal in 1881. In the early 1880s he turned to natural gas, creating inventions for its safe production and transmission that launched an entire energy industry. Then in 1886 he founded the Westinghouse Electric Corporation and went head-to-head with Thomas Edison's direct current system, championing AC power distribution. His AC system illuminated the White City at the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago and powered the world's first large-scale AC generation plant at Niagara Falls in August 1895. He died March 12, 1914, having received 360 patents and established 61 companies - and, in a quiet irony, the 1911 Edison Medal.
Scientists from the United States 6
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