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John Hays Hammond Jr.

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John Hays Hammond Jr. Famous memorial

Birth
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California, USA
Death
12 Feb 1965 (aged 76)
Gloucester, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA
Burial
Gloucester, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA GPS-Latitude: 42.5852749, Longitude: -70.6929294
Memorial ID
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Inventor. He gained fame as an American inventor known as "The Father of Radio Control." His adult life was shaped by childhood experiences. When his family moved to England, Hammond fell in love with castles and life in earlier times. In South Africa, he saw his father's work as the mining engineer of Cecil Rhodes's diamond mines. When the family moved to Washington, D.C., Hammond met Thomas Alva Edison, who introduced him to Alexander Graham Bell. Under Bell's direction, Hammond worked as a clerk in the United States Patent Office. Hammond attended Lawrenceville School, invented, and studied at Yale University, graduating in 1910. He experimented with radio-controlled boats and started the Hammond Radio Research Corporation in 1911. In 1914, he successfully guided an unmanned forty-four-foot ship from Gloucester to Boston and back, a round trip of 120 miles, using his patented "System for Radio Control of Moving Bodies." He developed a radio-controlled torpedo system and submarine sound transmission system for the United States Navy. Hammond developed the "dynamic multiplier," which is today's stereo, and was an FM radio pioneer. He had 437 inventions and held over 800 patents. In 1926, he began building his castle home in Gloucester, Massachusetts, for his wife, Irene Fenton. The castle included a laboratory where Hammond continued to work. For a time Nikola Tesla lived on Hammond's estate. Hammond received the Elliot Cresson Medal from Philadelphia's Franklin Institute, which named him the "Father of Radio Control." He also received the Medal of Honor from the Institute of Radio Engineers in 1962 and 1963.

Inventor. He gained fame as an American inventor known as "The Father of Radio Control." His adult life was shaped by childhood experiences. When his family moved to England, Hammond fell in love with castles and life in earlier times. In South Africa, he saw his father's work as the mining engineer of Cecil Rhodes's diamond mines. When the family moved to Washington, D.C., Hammond met Thomas Alva Edison, who introduced him to Alexander Graham Bell. Under Bell's direction, Hammond worked as a clerk in the United States Patent Office. Hammond attended Lawrenceville School, invented, and studied at Yale University, graduating in 1910. He experimented with radio-controlled boats and started the Hammond Radio Research Corporation in 1911. In 1914, he successfully guided an unmanned forty-four-foot ship from Gloucester to Boston and back, a round trip of 120 miles, using his patented "System for Radio Control of Moving Bodies." He developed a radio-controlled torpedo system and submarine sound transmission system for the United States Navy. Hammond developed the "dynamic multiplier," which is today's stereo, and was an FM radio pioneer. He had 437 inventions and held over 800 patents. In 1926, he began building his castle home in Gloucester, Massachusetts, for his wife, Irene Fenton. The castle included a laboratory where Hammond continued to work. For a time Nikola Tesla lived on Hammond's estate. Hammond received the Elliot Cresson Medal from Philadelphia's Franklin Institute, which named him the "Father of Radio Control." He also received the Medal of Honor from the Institute of Radio Engineers in 1962 and 1963.

Bio by: rjschatz



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  • Maintained by: Find a Grave
  • Originally Created by: rjschatz
  • Added: Apr 12, 2005
  • Find a Grave Memorial ID:
  • Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/10762324/john_hays-hammond: accessed ), memorial page for John Hays Hammond Jr. (13 Apr 1888–12 Feb 1965), Find a Grave Memorial ID 10762324, citing Hammond Castle Museum, Gloucester, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA; Maintained by Find a Grave.