What innovative ideas General Electric has given to the world
The personality of Thomas Edison is known all over the world. He is the ingenious inventor who gave mankind the incandescent light bulb. His company General Electric was advanced for its time and made a huge contribution to the development of electricity.
The history of the company began in 1878, when Edison founded a firm to produce an incandescent light bulb, a short time later introducing the dynamo. Business was going well, and the business was expanding, with a new range of products. The company’s direct competitor was Thomson-Houston Electric, which strengthened its position through the takeover of smaller firms. In 1892, there was a merger of companies, and that’s how General Electric was born. The corporation developed innovative products, took part in large-scale projects, such as building the largest electric locomotives and transformers. In 1896 it was listed in the Dow Jones index, which only appeared on the stock exchange. And of all the industrial giants of the time, only General Electric managed to keep its place there until now.
In 1900, the company opened a research unit where many revolutionary solutions were developed. Later it became the largest laboratory of its kind that was privately owned. It was here that the electric-powered ship was created, which was produced specifically for the U.S. Navy, as well as the first refrigerator for home use.
The 1920s were a new stage of development for GE and were marked by the production of televisions and radios. Entering a new media sphere, the company began to actively pursue new niches. In 1922, it launched its own radio channel, and after a while it bought a plastics factory, which was an important part of the production of televisions and equipment for the broadcasting industry.
During the war, the corporation was engaged in the manufacture of engines for jet fighters, and in the 1950s computers were assembled at its facilities.
General Electric also conquered the home appliance market. It produced microwave ovens and clothes dryers. The company collaborated with national administrations and took part in developing satellites for meteorology. In 1969, GE was part of the team that organized the landing of a spaceship on the surface of the moon.
The company employed some of the great minds of the science world, including physicist Ivar Jiver. In 1973, he won the Nobel Prize. It should be noted that despite large-scale projects and the creation of a computed tomography scanner, the main focus of GE remained household appliances and the manufacture of light bulbs.
From its founding and to this day, General Electric remains one of the largest innovative companies. It has a presence in more than 10 segments and operates in 100 countries.
