Here is a man who helped cities grow!
Urban development means two crucial things for a city: the city should grow and spread into a wider area; it should also make businesses grow in commercial centres. Frank Julian Sprague was a great inventor who helped to make both these possible. He had contributed greatly to the development of the electric motor and electric railways which improved transportation within cities and helped them to spread. Another device Sprague helped to develop was the electric elevator, which promoted the use of high-rise buildings leading to greater concentration of business in commercial sections.
An American naval officer turned inventor, Frank Sprague came to be known as the ‘Father of Electric Traction.’ His life took an important turn when he met Edward H. Johnson, who was a business associate of Edison. Johnson persuaded Sprague to leave the navy and work for Edison. Edison had employed a number of brilliant engineers to help with his experiments on electricity. At the request of Johnson, Edison hired Sprague. However, they worked together only for a year, after which Sprague formed a company of his own, named the Sprague Electric Railway & Motor Company.
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