Elmer Ambrose Sperry (born October 12, 1860 in Cincinnatus, New York; died June 16, 1930 in Brooklyn, New York) was an inventor and entrepreneur. October 12 is the 285th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (286th in leap years). ... 1860 is the leap year starting on Sunday. ... Cincinnatus is a town located in Cortland County, New York. ... Official language(s) English de facto Capital Albany Largest city New York City Area  Ranked 27th  - Total 54,520 sq mi (141,205 km²)  - Width 285 miles (455 km)  - Length 330 miles (530 km)  - % water 13. ... June 16 is the 167th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (168th in leap years), with 198 days remaining. ... 1930 (MCMXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link is to a full 1930 calendar). ... For other meanings, see Brooklyn (disambiguation). ... Official language(s) English de facto Capital Albany Largest city New York City Area  Ranked 27th  - Total 54,520 sq mi (141,205 km²)  - Width 285 miles (455 km)  - Length 330 miles (530 km)  - % water 13. ... An inventor is a person who creates new inventions, typically technical devices such as mechanical, electrical or software devices or methods. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

In 1880, he founded the Sperry Electric Company in Chicago, Illinois to manufacture the electric dynamos and arc lamps that he had invented as a teenager. Over the next fifty years, he founded seven more companies to manufacture his own inventions, including: 1880 (MDCCCLXXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Flag Seal Nickname: The Windy City Motto: Urbs In Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location Location in Chicagoland and northern Illinois Coordinates , Government Country State Counties United States Illinois Cook, DuPage Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 606. ...

• Sperry Electric Mining Machine Company, (1888);
• Sperry Electric Railway Company, (1894);
• Chicago Fuse Wire Company, (1900); and
• Sperry Gyroscope Company (1910), founded to manufacture Sperry's development of the gyrocompass, originally invented by Herman Anschütz-Kaempfe in 1908. Sperry's first model was installed on the battleship USS Delaware in 1911.

The companies eventually evolved into the Sperry Corporation. 1888 (MDCCCLXXXVIII) is a leap year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. ... 1894 (MDCCCXCIV) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... 1900 (MCM) was an exceptional common year starting on Monday. ... Sperry Corporation was a major American equipment and electronics company whose existence spanned more than seven decades of the twentieth century. ... 1910 (MCMX) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Sunday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... Cutaway of Anschütz gyrocompass The following description refers to the gyrocompasses used on ships. ... In 1905, Hermann Anschütz-Kaempfe founded a firm to manufacture gyroscopic navigation instruments. ... 1908 (MCMVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... The sixth USS Delaware (BB-28) of the United States Navy was a battleship launched in 1909 and scrapped in 1924, the lead ship of the Delaware class. ... 1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). ... Sperry Corporation was a major American equipment and electronics company whose existence spanned more than seven decades of the twentieth century. ...

Sperry was also a founding member of the US Naval Consulting Board, 1915. The Naval Consulting Board was a US Navy organization established in 1915 by Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels. ...

In 1916, Sperry joined Peter Hewitt to develop the Hewitt-Sperry Automatic Airplane, one of the first successful precursors of the UAV. This is a list of aviation-related events from 1916: Events January January 12 - German aces Max Immelmann and Oswald Boelcke, with 8 kills, are the first pilots awarded with Pour le Mérite (the Blue Max) January 29 - the second and last Zeppelin raid on Paris inflicts 54 casualties. ... Peter Cooper Hewitt (May 5, 1861 - August 25, 1921) was an American electrical engineer, who demonstrated the mercury-vapor lamp for which he deposited a patent. ... The Hewitt-Sperry Automatic Airplane was a project undertaken during World War I to develop an aerial torpedo, a pilotless aircraft capable of carrying explosives to its target. ... This article or section may be confusing for some readers, and should be edited to be clearer or more simplified. ...

References

• Thomas P. Hughes, Elmer Sperry: Inventor and Engineer (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1971).
• Fahrney, Delmer S. (RAdm ret): History of Radio-Controlled Aircraft and Guided Missles

External links

• Obituary, New York Times, Elmer Sperry Dies; Famous Inventor, June 17, 1930