Sperry Corporation was a major American equipment and electronics company whose existence spanned more than seven decades of the twentieth century. Two digital voltmeters The field of electronics is the study and use of systems that operate by controlling the flow of electrons or other electrically charged particles in devices such as thermionic valves and semiconductors. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s The 20th century lasted from 1901 to 2000 in the Gregorian calendar (often from (1900 to 1999 in common usage). ...

Early history

The company was founded in 1910 as the Sperry Gyroscope Company by Elmer Ambrose Sperry to manufacture navigation equipment, chiefly his own inventions – the marine gyrostabilizer and the gyrocompass. During World War I the company diversified into aircraft components including bomb sights and fire control systems. 1910 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Acrobatic bicycle is possible thanks to gyroscopic effects A gyroscope is a device for measuring or maintaining orientation, based on the principle of conservation of angular momentum. ... Elmer Ambrose Sperry (October 12, 1860 - June 16, 1930) was an inventor and entrepreneur. ... The following description refers to the gyrocompasses used on ships. ... Jump to: navigation, search World War I was primarily a European conflict with many facets: immense human sacrifice, stalemate trench warfare, and the use of new, devastating weapons - tanks, aircraft, machineguns, and poison gas. ... A fire-control system is a computer, often mechanical, which is designed to assist a weapon system in hitting its target. ...

In 1918 Lawrence Sperry split from his father to compete over aero-instruments with the Lawrence Sperry Aircraft Company, including the new automatic pilot. In 1924 following the death of Lawrence on December 13, 1923, the two firms were brought together. The company became Sperry Corporation in 1933. The new corporation was a holding company for a number of smaller entities such as the original Sperry Gyroscope, Ford Instrument Company, Intercontinental Aviation, Inc., and others. Autopilots mechanically guide a vehicle without assistance from a human being. ... 1933 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ...

The company did very well during World War II as military demand skyrocketed; it specialised in high technology devices such as analog computer-controlled bomb sights, airborne radar systems, and automated take off and landing systems. Sperry also was the creator of the Ball Turret Gun that was mounted under the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, made famous by the Memphis Belle. Postwar, the company expanded its interests in electronics and computing, producing the company's first digital computer, SPEEDAC, in 1953. Jump to: navigation, search World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons such as the atom bomb World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a mid-20th-century conflict that... An analog/analogue computer is a form of computer that uses electronic or mechanical phenomena to model the problem being solved by using one kind of physical quantity to represent another. ... This long range radar antenna (approximately 40m (130ft) in diameter) rotates on a track to observe activities near the horizon. ... A B_17 nicknamed Sally B in England in 2001 The B_17 Flying Fortress was the first mass_produced, four_engine heavy bomber. ...

Sperry Rand

In 1955 Sperry acquired Remington Rand and renamed itself Sperry Rand. Acquiring then Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation and Engineering Research Associates along with Remington Rand, the company developed the successful UNIVAC computer series and signed a valuable cross-licensing deal with IBM. The company remained a major military contractor. From 1967 to 1973 the corporation was involved in an acrimonious antitrust lawsuit with Honeywell, Inc. Jump to: navigation, search 1955 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Remington Rand was an early American computer manufacturer, best known as the original maker of the UNIVAC, and now part of Unisys. ... The Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation (EMCC) was founded by J. Presper Eckert and John William Mauchly, and was incorporated on December 22, 1947. ... Engineering Research Associates, commonly known as ERA, was a pioneering computer firm from the 1950s. ... // The Remington Rand years (1950 to 1955) Calculating devices UNIVAC 60 UNIVAC 120 Computer systems UNIVAC I UNIVAC 1101 UNIVAC 1102 UNIVAC 1103 Peripherals Storage UNISERVO tape drive Display and print UNIVAC High speed printer 600 line/min printer Offline tape handling units UNIPRINTER 10 char/s printer with tape... International Business Machines Corporation (IBM, or colloquially, Big Blue) (NYSE: IBM) (incorporated June 15, 1911, in operation since 1888) is headquartered in Armonk, New York, USA. The company manufactures and sells computer hardware, software, and services. ... Antitrust or competition laws, legislate against trade practices that are claimed to undermine competitiveness or are considered to be unfair. ... Honeywell NYSE: HON is a major American multinational corporation that produces electronic control systems and automation equipment. ...

In 1978 Sperry Rand decided to concentrate on its computing interests and a number of divisions including Remington Rand Systems, Remington Rand Machines, Ford Instrument Company, Sperry Aerospace and Sperry Vickers were sold. The company dropped "Rand" from its title and reverted back to Sperry Corporation. In the 1970s, Sperry Corporation was an old-school conglomerate, selling typewriters (Sperry Remington), office equipment, electronic digital computers for business and the military (Sperry Univac), farm equipment (Sperry New Holland), avionics (e.g. gyroscopes, radars, Air Route Traffic Control equipment) (Sperry Vickers/Sperry Aerospace), and consumer products (electric razors) (Sperry Remington.) Sperry bought out and continued the RCA line of electronic digital computers: architectural cousins to the IBM System/360. 1978 was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar). ... The IBM System/360 (S/360) is a mainframe computer system family announced by International Business Machines on April 7, 1964. ...

Merger

In 1986, after the success of a second hostile takeover bid engineered by Burroughs' CEO and ex-Treasurer of the U.S., Michael Blumenthal, and approved by then-President Ronald Reagan, Sperry Corporation merged with Burroughs Corporation to become Unisys. The takeover came about even after Sperry Rand used a "poison pill" in the form of a major share price hike to dissuade the hostile bid, as a result of which Burroughs had to borrow much more from the banks than was anticipated in order to complete the bid. Jump to: navigation, search 1986 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A takeover in commerce refers to one company (the acquirer) purchasing another (the target). ... Werner Michael Blumenthal (born January 3, 1926) served as United States Secretary of the Treasury under President Jimmy Carter from 1977-1979. ... Jump to: navigation, search Ronald Wilson Reagan, GCB, (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was the 40th President of the United States (1981–1989) and the 33rd Governor of California (1967–1975). ... William Seward Burroughs (1857-1898), US inventor William S. Burroughs (1914-1997), author and grandson of William Seward Burroughs Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875-1950), American author of Tarzan fame The Burroughs Corporation began in 1886 as the American Arithmometer Company in St. ... Unisys Corporation (NYSE: UIS) is a provider of information technology services and solutions with operations across the world. ... Poison pill is a term referring to any strategy, generally in business or politics, which attempts to avoid a negative outcome by increasing the costs of that outcome to those who seek it. ...

Certain internal divisions of Sperry such as Sperry New Holland, Sperry Gyroscope, Sperry Vickers, Sperry Marine and Sperry Flight Systems were sold off after the merger. The name Sperry lives on in the company Sperry Marine, headquartered in Charlottesville, Virginia. This company, formed in 1997 from three well-known brand names in the marine industry - Sperry Marine, Decca and C. Plath, is now part of Northrop Grumman Corporation. It is a worldwide supplier of navigation, communication, information and automation systems for commercial marine and naval markets. Location in Virginia Founded  -Incorporated 1762   County Independent City Mayor David Brown Area  - Total  - Water 177. ... The Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) is an aerospace and defense conglomerate that is the result of a 1994 merger between Northrop and Grumman. ...

See also

• UNIVAC
• Roger W. Sperry Split Brain Researcher

Sperry Online This article is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Roger Wolcott Sperry (August 20, 1913 - April 17, 1994) was a neurobiologist and Nobel laureate who, together with David Hunter Hubel and Torsten Nils Wiesel, won the 1981 Nobel Prize in Medicine for his work with split-brain research. ...