Thomas Willson
Encyclopedia
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
inventor.
He was born on a farm near Princeton, Ontario
Princeton, Ontario
Princeton is a community in Oxford County, Ontario, Canada.In 1978, archaeologists excavated the site in Princeton of an 800-year-old Amerindian village of the Glen Meyer tribe.The Princeton Public Library is a branch of the Oxford Public Library....
in 1860 and went to school in Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
. By the age of 21, he had designed and patented the first electric arc lamp
Arc lamp
"Arc lamp" or "arc light" is the general term for a class of lamps that produce light by an electric arc . The lamp consists of two electrodes, first made from carbon but typically made today of tungsten, which are separated by a gas...
s used in Hamilton. He moved to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in search of opportunities to sell his ideas.
In 1892, he discovered an economically efficient process for creating calcium carbide
Calcium carbide
thumb|right|Calcium carbide.Calcium carbide is a chemical compound with the chemical formula of CaC2. The pure material is colorless, however pieces of technical grade calcium carbide are grey or brown and consist of only 80-85% of CaC2 . Because of presence of PH3, NH3, and H2S it has a...
, which is used in the production of acetylene
Acetylene
Acetylene is the chemical compound with the formula C2H2. It is a hydrocarbon and the simplest alkyne. This colorless gas is widely used as a fuel and a chemical building block. It is unstable in pure form and thus is usually handled as a solution.As an alkyne, acetylene is unsaturated because...
gas. In 1895, he sold his patent to Union Carbide
Union Carbide
Union Carbide Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company. It currently employs more than 2,400 people. Union Carbide primarily produces chemicals and polymers that undergo one or more further conversions by customers before reaching consumers. Some are high-volume...
.
In the same year, he married Mary Parks in California and moved back to Canada. He built a house for his mother in Woodstock, Ontario in 1895. During the years 1900 and 1901, he moved to Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
and opened carbide plants both in Ontario (Merritton
Merritton, Ontario
thumb|right|275px|The Keg RestaurantMerritton is both a distinct community within and a council ward of St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. It was named after William Hamilton Merritt, a prominent local entrepreneur and founder of the Welland Canal Company...
& Ottawa) and Quebec (Shawinigan). In 1911, he founded the International Marine Signal Company to manufacture marine buoy
Buoy
A buoy is a floating device that can have many different purposes. It can be anchored or allowed to drift. The word, of Old French or Middle Dutch origin, is now most commonly in UK English, although some orthoepists have traditionally prescribed the pronunciation...
s and lighthouse
Lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....
beacons.
He was the first person to own a car in Ottawa.
In 1907 he built a summer house on Meech Lake
Meech Lake
Meech Lake is located within Gatineau Park in the Municipality of Chelsea, Quebec, Canada . The lake was named after Reverend Asa Meech, an early settler in this area....
in what is now Gatineau Park
Gatineau Park
Gatineau Park is a park located in the National Capital Region, in Quebec's Outaouais region, just north of Ottawa, Ontario. Administered by the National Capital Commission, the park is a 361 km² wedge of land to the west of the Gatineau River...
. (The house is now owned by the federal government, and notable for being the site of negotiations on the Meech Lake Accord
Meech Lake Accord
The Meech Lake Accord was a package of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada negotiated in 1987 by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and ten provincial premiers. It was intended to persuade the government of the Province of Quebec to endorse the 1982 Canadian Constitution and increase...
). In 1911, he began experimenting with the condensation of phosphoric acid
Phosphoric acid
Phosphoric acid, also known as orthophosphoric acid or phosphoric acid, is a mineral acid having the chemical formula H3PO4. Orthophosphoric acid molecules can combine with themselves to form a variety of compounds which are also referred to as phosphoric acids, but in a more general way...
in the manufacture of fertilizer
Fertilizer
Fertilizer is any organic or inorganic material of natural or synthetic origin that is added to a soil to supply one or more plant nutrients essential to the growth of plants. A recent assessment found that about 40 to 60% of crop yields are attributable to commercial fertilizer use...
s at a mill on Meech Creek within the park. Due to this venture and running out of capital, he lost nearly all of his estate to his creditor,
American tobacco king J. B. Duke.
In 1915, he died of a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
while trying to raise funds for a hydroelectric project in Labrador
Labrador
Labrador is the distinct, northerly region of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It comprises the mainland portion of the province, separated from the island of Newfoundland by the Strait of Belle Isle...
. His dream was finally realized in 1974 as the Churchill Falls
Churchill Falls
Churchill Falls are waterfalls named after former British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill. They are high, located on the Churchill River in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada....
project.