George Westinghouse was born on October 6, 1846 in New York. He worked in his father's factory, where he learned about gears, pistons, and cams. In 1865, after serving in the Union army and navy, Westinghouse received his first of patent (one of over 400 patents he would eventually receive), for a small rotary engine. By the age of 30, he had already been president of his first corporation, and had exhibited his air brakes, air compressors, speed indicators, engines, and engine governors at Philadelphia's Centennial Exhibition World's Fair of 1876, alongside inventions of Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison. But he had yet to enter the industry, or found the company, that made his name a household word.

As business returned to normal following the Civil War, Westinghouse was one of the few men who became appalled at the lack of safety on the world's railroads. In fact, after nearly four decades of...