1870s High School Teacher Talks About His Inventions and Starting GE: Restored Video and Audio

This is Elihu Thomson discussing with one of his former students, E.W Rice, his inventions and work in the 1870s & 1880s, some of which he had accomplished while still working as a high school teacher at Central High School in Philadelphia, PA. General Electric Company was formed in 1892, with Elihu's Thomson-Houston Electric Company merging together with Edison General Electric Company. The interview was filmed on June 21, 1932. Video footage has been restored using stabilization, colorization, denoise, speed-adjustment and deblur. Audio has been restored for maximum clarity.Show more

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Elihu Thomson was born March 29, 1853, in Manchester, England. His father, who worked as a mill mechanic, was thrown out of work in 1857 and decided to emigrate to the United States. In 1858 the family settled in Philadelphia, where Elihu grew up. His father's work as a mechanic stimulated Thomson's interest in mechanical and chemical processes. From his early teens he read widely, built models, and conducted simple chemical experiments. At Philadelphia's Central High School Thomson was an outstanding student who attracted the interest of his instructors. Upon graduating in 1870 he was offered a teaching position at the school.

Between 1870 and 1880 Thomson taught high school in Philadelphia. At the same time he and a fellow teacher named Edwin J. Houston experimented with electricity and succeeded in building a practical electric arc lighting system. In 1879 a group of New England businessmen took an interest in the Thomson-Houston arc lighting system and offered to finance its fabrication.

In 1880 Thomson moved to New Britain, Connecticut, as the company's chief engineer. By 1881 Thomson had designed the best arc lighting system in the country, but sales were slow. In 1882 a group of Lynn, Massachusetts,
businessmen purchased the company and changed the name to the Thomson-Houston Electric Company.

This video is made for educational purposes for fair use under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976.