Westinghouse Electric Company
The Westinghouse Electric Company, headquartered in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, is an organization founded by George Westinghouse in 1886. George Westinghouse had previously founded the Westinghouse Air Brake Company. Westinghouse Electric received the first patent for alternating-current transmission, and unveiled the technology for lighting in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. The company pioneered long-distance power transmission and high-voltage transmission. In addition to George Westinghouse, engineers working for the company include William Stanley, Nikola Tesla and Oliver Schallenberger. It was historically the rival to General Electric.
Timeline of company evolution
- 1889 renamed the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company
- 1914 - acquired Copeman Electric Stove Company and entered the home appliance market, (sold in 1974 to White Consolidated Industries
- 1920s - entered the broadcasting industry, with stations like KDKA in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- 1930s - entered the nuclear age with an industrial atom smasher.
- 1940s - entered aviation with airborne radar (defense electronics sold 1996) and ground based airport lighting.
- 1945 - renamed the Westinghouse Electric Corporation.
- 1950s - entered consumer finance with Westinghouse Credit Corporation
- 1960s - acquires ThermoKing, begins automated mass transit (sold 1988)
- 1980s - acquires cable television operator TelePrompter (sold 1985) and robot maker Unimation
- 1995 - buys CBS
- 1996 - buys Infinity Broadcasting
- 1997 - sells non-broadcast operations, renamed CBS
- 1999 - BNFL a UK nuclear company acquires CBS nuclear power business and takes the name Westinghouse Electric Company
Other companies, including a lighting company (formerly Angelo Brothers) and an appliance company White-Westinghouse, license or use the Westinghouse name.
See also
