biography
| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1791–1883)
|
| biography:
| Engineer, manufacturer, and philanthropist, born in New York City, New York, USA. With little formal education, he worked in various trades, laying the basis for his fortune by making glue and isinglass. In 1828 he started an iron works in Baltimore, MD where he built the first steam locomotive in the USA, Tom Thumb. Although it lost a famous race with a horse-drawn train in 1830, he helped advance the spread of railroads. His many business interests, mostly involving iron mining and manufacturing, included the telegraph company that laid the first transatlantic cable. Quick to adopt the latest technology such as the Bessemer process, he himself invented several labour-saving devices including a washing machine. Having greatly prospered, he founded Cooper Union in New York City (1859) to provide free education to adults in art and technical-scientific subjects, which still functions as the Cooper Institute. He was active in civic affairs and in 1876 was the Greenback Party's candidate for president. |
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