G.E.’s History of Innovation

Oct 27, 2023

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By Eric Owles

In 1889, the company that Thomas A. Edison founded joined with two others to form what would become one of the most storied conglomerates in the United States. Called Edison General Electric, the company mirrored the growth of industrial America from the steam age to the age of electricity and beyond.

During World War II, General Electric supplied the United States military with executives and equipment manufacturing. In the postwar boom, G.E. sold appliances that helped free America's housewives from the kitchen. And in the 1980s, Jack Welch, then the chief executive, expanded the company into media and Wall Street. Throughout, G.E. amassed a library of patents. Below are a few of the company's notable products and periods.

1879

Working at his laboratory in Menlo Park, N.J., Mr. Edison created an incandescent light bulb that burned for more than 40 hours.

In 1908, William Coolidge, a researcher for the company, was able to draw tungsten into wires thinner than human hair. The filaments led to more durable light bulbs that could be used in cars and trains.

Sixty years later, G.E. created new fluorescent lamps, which came with white colored bulbs. In 2010, the company released LED bulbs that required 77 percent less energy and would last for 22 years.

1882

The nation's first commercial power station generated electricity for 59 customers in Manhattan. Crowds gathered at Sweet's Restaurant and The New York Times to watch as the current from Edison Electric Company on Pearl Street powered incandescent electric lamps. To win over skeptics, the electricity was free for the first three months.

1893

The company developed a 30-ton electric locomotive that could reach 30 miles per hour without the use of steam power. The locomotive was featured at the Chicago Exposition.

1896

One year after X-rays were first discovered, a founder of the modern electric age, Elihu Thomson, created an X-ray tube. There was such anxiety around the dangers the rays might pose that Mr. Thomson exposed two of his fingers to an X-ray tube to prove that they were not harmless. His fingers were scarred and remained stiff for the rest of his life.

1906

A high-frequency alternator created by Ernst F. W. Alexanderson, a Swedish-born engineer, made possible the first voice radio broadcast. Before that time, radio had been operated as a series of dots and dashes transmitted by telegraph. On Christmas Eve, Reginald Fessenden broadcast his voice from Brant Rock, Mass., to nearby ships. His transmission included a recording of Handel's "Largo," a Bible verse and a violin solo of "O Holy Night."

1910

George Hughes, an entrepreneur, invented the first electric stove. G.E. began making its own version shortly after and later merged with Mr. Hughes's company. It was not until 1922, when Gerard Swope became president of G.E., that the company began to extensively manufacture electric-powered home appliances.

1912

The company came up with a glass-encased vacuum through which an electrical current could flow. G.E.'s tube could transmit up to 50,000 volts and made possible advances used in radio and X-ray. A decade later, a new type of vacuum tube called the magnetron was created; it was then used in World War II radar systems and the invention of the microwave. The weapons of war shall "ease the housewives’ burden," The Times wrote.

1927

A man enjoyed a cigarette and a ukulele player hummed a song in the first demonstration of television, broadcast to three homes in Schenectady, N.Y.

1930s and ’40s

In 1909, Leo Baekland synthesized carbonic acid and formaldehyde to create a hard, transparent resin. In the 1930s, G.E. gave mass production a boost with a moldable plastic. By 1953, a plastic could be made transparent.

Silicone compounds have been described as the blue-collar mainstays of the chemical industry. They are used in everything from Silly Putty to space stations. Dow Corning led the development of silicone products during World War II, but G.E. entered the market shortly after with a more efficient manufacturing process.

1941

The first jet engine was created in a laboratory in Rugby, England, by Frank Whittle. G.E. later built the first American jet engine, the G.E. 1-A. It was used to power the Lockheed F-80, but the plane was manufactured too late to be used in World War II.

In 1949, G.E. introduced the most popular jet engine in history, the J-47, capable of working at high altitudes and in low temperatures.

1957

The world's first commercial nuclear power plant was the Shippingport Atomic Power Station along the Ohio River near Pittsburgh. The $120 million plant initially supplied 60,000 kilowatts, enough energy for 120,000 people. The plant was retired from service in 1982.

1962

On the same day, I.B.M. and G.E. announced the same laser light discovery, an invention used to communicate by light waves. Over the years, the company has used lasers in everything from processing solar panel materials to drilling holes in aircraft blades.

1976

Four years after the invention of the CT scan, G.E. developed a scanner that could make sharp, cross-sectional scans of a patient in less than five seconds.

In the early 1970s, Raymond Damadian, a researcher at the State University of New York's Downstate Medical Center, proposed building large circular magnets and running patients through them. In 1983, G.E. developed its own system of producing images of soft tissues.

1980s

Under Jack Welch, G.E. shed employees and acquired companies. In 1986, G.E. bought RCA for its NBC television network. The biggest expansion target was financial companies. For years, they were seen as an easy money generator. "And you don't have to build a factory," Mr. Welch said.

By the time Mr. Welch stepped down, he had turned a $25 billion manufacturing company into a $100 billion "boundary-less" conglomerate.

But the 2008 financial crisis badly wounded the conglomerate and made it difficult to borrow. Under Jeffrey R. Immelt, G.E. took steps to shed the bulk of its financial unit. It has since returned to its manufacturing roots.

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