Acheson, Edward Goodrich

1856 - He was born on the 9th of March  in Washington, Pennsylvania.

1880 - Thomas Edison put him to work on the 12th of September at his Menlo Park,
            New Jersey laboratory under John Kruesi.

1884 - He left Edison and became supervisor at a plant competing to manufacture electric lamps.

       - He heated a mixture of clay and coke in an iron bowl with a carbon arc light
           and found some shiny, hexagonal crystals (silicon carbide) attached to the carbon electrode.

1891 - He built an electricity plant in Port Huron at the suggestion of Edison, and used
            the electricity to experiment with carborundum.

1893 - On the 28th of February, he received a patent on this highly effective abrasive.

       - Throughout his life, he received 70 patents relating to abrasives, graphite
           products, reduction of oxides, and refractories.

1931 - He died on the 6th of July in New York City.

1997 - He was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.