1846-1914

American Inventor and Industrialist

George Westinghouse is best known for founding his electric company and promoting the adoption of alternating current for electric power transmission in the United States. He also made significant improvements in railroad safety.

Westinghouse's career inclinations were apparent early on. Born in New York, he worked in his father's factory, where he learned about mechanics. After serving on the Union side during the Civil War, he received his first patent for a rotary steam engine in 1865.

Westinghouse's first significant accomplishment involved the railroad. By the end of the Civil War, railroad cars were stopped by brakemen who, stationed along the length of the train, turned hand brakes on each car at the signal of the engineer. Westinghouse saw the need for a safe means of braking trains, one involving a single braking system for the entire train. He first experimented with...