{"id":2020,"date":"2013-02-25T11:01:00","date_gmt":"2013-02-25T11:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=2020"},"modified":"2014-12-24T14:03:10","modified_gmt":"2014-12-24T14:03:10","slug":"oct-6-1910-george-westinghouse-entrepreneur","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/02\/25\/oct-6-1910-george-westinghouse-entrepreneur\/","title":{"rendered":"George Westinghouse: entrepreneur and innovator"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Westinghouse <\/a>
Westinghouse and Marguerite on a visit to Niagara Falls on Nov. 16, 1896. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Westinghouse <\/a>
Westinghouse founded 60 companies. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Westinghouse <\/a>
Westinghouse married Marguerite Erskine on Aug. 8, 1867. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Niagara Falls was the scene of triumph for George Westinghouse in 1896. That year, he and Nikola Tesla harnessed the hydroelectric power of the falls and used it to electrify Buffalo, N.Y. This achievement ushered in the age of the alternating current that people use today.<\/p>\n

Westinghouse disliked being photographed so it\u2019s quite likely that his wife, Marguerite, persuaded him to appear in this picture.<\/p>\n

His employees also knew of his distaste for cameras but instead of using persuasion, they arranged to secretly photograph their boss while he conferred with an employee about a patent drawing at Westinghouse Electric\u2019s East Pittsburgh plant. Westinghouse is the man on the left.<\/p>\n

Like many successful entrepreneurs whose inventions improved civilization, \u00a0Westinghouse started out in humble surroundings and never lost his love for tinkering or solving problems.<\/p>\n

As a youth growing up in New York, he often built gadgets and devices in his father\u2019s factory, a Schenectady-based company called G. Westinghouse & Co. that made agricultural machinery and steam engines.<\/p>\n

Westinghouse came to Pittsburgh in the 1860s. He wanted the city\u2019s high-quality cast steel and he also needed financing and a manufacturer for two of his inventions \u2014 the car replacer and the railway frog. Both benefited the railroad industry.<\/p>\n

A gifted engineer, Westinghouse took out 361 patents and founded 60 companies that employed more than 50,000 people. His successes included Westinghouse Electric, Westinghouse Air Brake, Union Switch & Signal plus the forerunners of Duquesne Light, Equitable Gas and Rockwell International. All this from a man who spent three months at Union College before returning home to continue tinkering in his father\u2019s factory.<\/p>\n

Westinghouse also was an enlightened employer.\u00a0He regularly visited the floors of his factories and\u00a0gave his employees half-day holidays on Saturdays and disability pay.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Niagara Falls was the scene of triumph for George Westinghouse in 1896. <\/p>\n

Look at the picturesGeorge Westinghouse: entrepreneur and innovator<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2021,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1066],"tags":[955,983,1035,1036],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/tumblr_mijjoi0DGu1rr5swxo4_1280.jpg?fit=1080%2C884&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":175,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/10\/10\/the-george-westinghouse-bridge-pittsburghs-engineering-marvel\/","url_meta":{"origin":2020,"position":0},"title":"The George Westinghouse Bridge, Pittsburgh\u2019s engineering marvel","date":"October 10, 2014","format":"gallery","excerpt":"We never truly understood how awe-inspiring the span must have been to Pittsburghers in the early 1930s.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/tumblr_nd6q1bpujy1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C948&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8451,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2018\/04\/04\/students-hear-first-hand-accounts-of-the-turbulent-days-after-mlks-murder\/","url_meta":{"origin":2020,"position":1},"title":"Students hear first-hand accounts of the turbulent days after MLK’s murder","date":"April 4, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cThe students can see themselves as scholars\"","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/web.20180404_MLK_Proctor.jpg?fit=1200%2C907&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2233,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/12\/04\/fog-on-pittsburgh\/","url_meta":{"origin":2020,"position":2},"title":"Fog on Pittsburgh","date":"December 4, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"A striking image by photographer Clyde Hare.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/tumblr_meex1r2bJQ1rr5swxo1_400.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1046,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/01\/20\/jazz-legend-dakota-staton\/","url_meta":{"origin":2020,"position":3},"title":"Jazz legend Dakota Staton","date":"January 20, 2014","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Dakota Staton\u2019s strong, sultry, soulful voice will transport you back to the 1950s, an era when people flocked to nightclubs to hear live music, especially jazz or rhythm and blues.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/tumblr_mzlspxWhpX1rr5swxo3_1280.jpg?fit=864%2C860&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":768,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/04\/14\/march-3-1991-jake-milliones-in-the-hill\/","url_meta":{"origin":2020,"position":4},"title":"Jake Milliones in the Hill District","date":"April 14, 2014","format":"gallery","excerpt":"He believed in helping those who were willing to help themselves.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/tumblr_n3vr2dqqlj1rr5swxo5_1280.jpg?fit=936%2C660&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6731,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2016\/04\/25\/amigo-from-venezuela-remembers-meeting-clemente-in-pittsburgh-grateful-for-experience-50-years-later\/","url_meta":{"origin":2020,"position":5},"title":"Amigo from Venezuela remembers meeting Clemente in Pittsburgh, grateful for experience 50 years later","date":"April 25, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"With their student hosts, the Amigos got a taste of life for American teenagers. 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