Portrait of Elmer Ambrose Sperry

Birthday profile

Elmer Ambrose Sperry

Elmer Ambrose Sperry, American engineer and businessman, co-invented the gyrocompass (died 1930)

Born
October 12, 1860
Died
June 16, 1930
Zodiac sign
Libra
Birth year
1860

About Elmer Ambrose Sperry

Elmer Ambrose Sperry Sr. was an American inventor and entrepreneur, most famous for construction, two years after Hermann Anschütz-Kaempfe, of the gyrocompass and as founder of the Sperry Gyroscope Company. He was known as the "father of modern navigation technology". In 1887, Sperry created a system to bring electricity into coal mines, heating the copper wires to prevent corrosion. In 1888 the Sperry Electric Machinery Mining Company was founded. Elmer Ambrose Sperry Sr. (October 12, 1860 – June 16, 1930) was an American inventor and entrepreneur, most famous for construction, two years after Hermann Anschütz-Kaempfe, of the gyrocompass and as founder of the Sperry Gyroscope Company. Sperry spent three years at the State Normal School in Cortland, New York, then a year at Cornell University in 1878 and 1879, where he became interested in dynamos.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Elmer Ambrose Sperry timeline

  1. Elmer Ambrose Sperry Sr. (October 12, 1860 – June 16, 1930) was an American inventor and entrepreneur, most famous for construction, two years after Hermann Anschütz-Kaempfe, of the gyrocompass and as founder of the Sperry Gyroscope Company.
  2. Sperry spent three years at the State Normal School in Cortland, New York, then a year at Cornell University in 1878 and 1879, where he became interested in dynamos.
  3. In 1887, Sperry created a system to bring electricity into coal mines, heating the copper wires to prevent corrosion.
  4. In 1888 the Sperry Electric Machinery Mining Company was founded.

The world when Elmer Ambrose Sperry was born

Elmer Ambrose Sperry was born in 1860. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Headlines and milestones

  • Top headlineAbraham Lincoln elected — South Carolina secedes
  • Technology milestonePony Express mail service begins
  • World population~1.4B

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderJames Buchanan
  • U.S. population31.4M

1860 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Elmer Ambrose Sperry's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure18602026
Population31.4M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Library of Congress, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.