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George Westinghouse
By Sharon Fabian
1
George Westinghouse lived in the most wonderful time for a person who likes to
tinker. He was born in 1846. The Industrial Revolution was in full swing. Countless
inventions had already changed people's lives dramatically, and the spirit of invention
was still encouraging people to create more and better labor-saving devices.
2
George tried out inventions in his father's machine shop. Since his father built farm
machinery, there must have been lots of interesting tools and materials in that shop. When
he was only 15 years old, George built a type of rotary engine. A few years later he
received the patent for his engine.
3
He was always thinking of things he could build that would make people's work
easier. He found a way to build many of them. All together, George Westinghouse
received over one hundred patents. Some were for new inventions, and some were for
improvements on machines that had already been invented by someone else.
4
Westinghouse patented air brakes for trains. He thought of this idea while he was
riding on a train. The train suddenly lurched to a stop. At the time, this happened often
because train brakes had to be applied separately to each train car. It made train travel
uncomfortable and scary. Westinghouse thought of the idea to make brakes that could all
be controlled by the engineer himself. The result was the air brake, Westinghouse's most
famous invention. Once trains were equipped with Westinghouse's air brakes, passengers
no longer feared collisions as they had before. They knew that their train could stop
safely and smoothly.
5
Westinghouse's work helped spread the use of electric power too. This time, he
expanded on an idea already invented. Nikola Tesla was the inventor of AC, "alternating
current." Westinghouse bought the patent for AC from Tesla and went on to find practical
uses for AC.
6
Westinghouse improved train engines, ship engines, and subway travel. He built three
giant generators that produced electricity from the water power of Niagara Falls. He
began the first radio station in the world, KDKA in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
7
Westinghouse must have enjoyed his work, but you can see that he didn't invent
things just for fun. He felt that his inventions should be put to use in order to make
people's lives easier. To produce his inventions and get them used, Westinghouse often
started up his own production companies. Westinghouse Electric Company became one
of the largest in the world. Westinghouse appliances became household names. Homes all
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over the U.S. had Westinghouse sewing machines, radios, washing machines, and irons.
8
People liked to work for Westinghouse's companies. He provided pension funds to
help his employees when they were too old to work. He provided paid vacations too, so
his workers could afford to take a break. Westinghouse's company may have been the
first to give its workers a half-day off on Saturdays. Their 55-hour work week may seem
long now but, at that time, workers in other companies wished they could work just 55
hours per week too. His workplaces had the reputation of having clean work spaces and
adequate ventilation, which many other companies of that time did not offer either.
Westinghouse even provided training courses to allow his workers to advance.
9
Westinghouse's inventions and his companies were, in many ways, models for things
that we take for granted today. He was one of the most successful businessmen of all
time, and he didn't accomplish it by cutthroat business practices or by cheating his
customers. His work was a great success because he did what he set out to do - invent
things to make people's lives easier.
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Name _____________________________
Date ___________________
George Westinghouse
1. Westinghouse _____.
Was one of the first inventors of
the Industrial Revolution
Invented air brakes
Invented a total of ten inventions
All of the above
3. In this article, AC stands for _____.
Machines and electricity
Electricity and computers
Horse-drawn vehicles
None of the above
4. _____ invented AC.
Air conditioning
Automatic company
Alternating current
Automatic controls
Westinghouse
Franklin
Edison
Tesla
5. From this article, you can infer that
6. This article is about _____.
George Westinghouse_____.
Learned about building things
from his father
Did not like to read or write
Became a radio announcer
Was born into a wealthy family
7. The article says that Westinghouse's
factories had adequate ventilation. This
means _____. (Use a dictionary if you
need to.)
Enough fresh air
Enough light
A safe environment
A quiet environment
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2. Westinghouse worked with _____.
A famous train engineer
An inventor and radio announcer
A machine shop
An inventor and businessman
8. Power from a waterfall like Niagara
Falls can also be called _____ power.
(Use a dictionary if you need to.)
Geothermal
Solar
Nuclear
Hydroelectric
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George Westinghouse - Answer Key
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Invented air brakes
Machines and electricity
Alternating current
Tesla
Learned about building things from his father
An inventor and businessman
Enough fresh air
Hydroelectric
George Westinghouse
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