LaMarcus Adna Thompson: Difference between revisions
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==Early years== |
==Early years== |
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Thompson was born in Jersey, Licking County, Ohio on March 8, 1848. In his adolescence he became a skilled carpenter. In 1873 he began operating a grocery store in [[Elkhart, Indiana]]. There he began designing a device to manufacture seamless hosiery. He made a fortune in that business, but failing health forced him to quit it.<ref>{{cite news|title=L. A. Thompson Dead. Inventor of Scenic Railway Dies at His Home, Thompson Park.|date=March 9, 1919 |publisher=New York Times|page=20|accessdate=20 January 2010}}</ref> |
Thompson was born in Jersey, Licking County, Ohio on March 8, 1848. In his adolescence he became a skilled carpenter. In 1873 he began operating a grocery store in [[Elkhart, Indiana]]. There he began designing a device to manufacture seamless hosiery. He made a fortune in that business, but failing health forced him to quit it.<ref>{{cite news|title=L. A. Thompson Dead. Inventor of Scenic Railway Dies at His Home, Thompson Park.|date=March 9, 1919 |publisher=New York Times|page=20|accessdate=20 January 2010}}</ref>dick |
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==Father of gravity== |
==Father of gravity== |
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Revision as of 15:30, 2 September 2010
LaMarcus Adna Thompson (March 8, 1848 – May 8, 1919) was a US inventor and businessman most famous for developing many highly enjoyable gravity rides.
Early years
Thompson was born in Jersey, Licking County, Ohio on March 8, 1848. In his adolescence he became a skilled carpenter. In 1873 he began operating a grocery store in Elkhart, Indiana. There he began designing a device to manufacture seamless hosiery. He made a fortune in that business, but failing health forced him to quit it.[1]dick
Father of gravity
Thompson is best known for his early work developing roller coasters, and is sometimes called the "Father of Gravity". He did not invent the roller coaster; that credit goes to John G. Taylor who patented it under the name "Inclined Railway". However, over his lifetime, Thompson accumulated nearly thirty patents related to roller coaster technologies. An example is the patent granted 22 Dec. 1885 for the Gravity Switch-back Railway.[2]
Thompson's Gravity Pleasure Switchback Railway opened at Coney Island in 1884. A (6 mph) ride cost 5 cents. Eventually he built many more, both in the U.S. and in Europe. In 1887, along with designer James A. Griffiths, he opened the Scenic Railway on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, N.J.
He was managing director of the L. A. Thompson Scenic Railway Company, 220 West 42nd St., incorporated in 1895.
He died at his home, Thompson Park, Glen Cove, Long Island, on May 8, 1919 aged 71.
References
- ^ "L. A. Thompson Dead. Inventor of Scenic Railway Dies at His Home, Thompson Park". New York Times. March 9, 1919. p. 20.
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ Google patents, US patent# 332762, GRAVITY SWITCH-BACK RAILWAY.