MORE NEW
YORK INVENTORS

Our list of important New York inventors continues. (Part I appears on page 231.)

HERMAN HOLLERITH
In 1889, Buffalo-born statistician Herman Hollerith invented an electric tabulating system that could be used to read and collect data from punched cards. The machine soon became an indispensable tool at the U.S. Census Bureau, and Hollerith used the money generated from his invention to form the Tabulating Machine Company in 1896. That company merged with three other high-tech businesses in 1911 to form the International Business Machines Corporation…better known as IBM.

ELMER SPERRY

Cincinnatus-born and Cortland-schooled inventor Elmer Sperry achieved a breakthrough in 1908 when he created the spinning gyroscopic compass. The device is far more reliable on a moving platform than a traditional magnetic compass, and the U.S. military uses Sperry’s compass to steer ships, guide torpedoes, and stabilize airplanes during both world wars.

PETER COOPER

In 1845 New York City–born industrialist, philanthropist, and 1876 U.S. presidential candidate Peter Cooper patented a formula for powdered gelatin. He later sold his colorless, odorless, and flavorless creation to Pearl B. Wait, a cough-syrup manufacturer from Le Roy, New York. Wait then infused it with a variety of artificial flavors and renamed it Jell-O.

GEORGE PULLMAN

Overnight railroad travel became a lot more bearable in 1857 when Brocton-born cabinetmaker George Pullman invented the Pullman Sleeping Car. Modeled after the most luxurious hotel rooms of the day, the “Palace Car” was longer, higher, and wider than traditional coaches and featured folding upper berths, polished brass fixtures, deep pile carpeting, and a spacious washroom. Sales of the lavish cars picked up steam in 1865 when one was attached to President Abraham Lincoln’s funeral train, and by 1893 Pullman’s company was worth $62 million.

Geneva, NY, on Seneca Lake, is considered the “Lake Trout Capital of the World.”

GERTRUDE ELION

The daughter of Lithuanian and Polish immigrants, New York City scientist Gertrude Elion made headlines around the world in 1954 when she patented the leukemia-fighting drug 6-mercaptopurine. Later in her career, Elion did research that was also critical in the creation of azathioprine, a drug that reduces the rejection of kidney transplants, and acyclovir, a medication used to fight herpes. The chemotherapy medicine and other drugs she invented earned her the 1988 Nobel Prize in Medicine and a place in the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

THERE’S MORE TO BUFFALO THAN WINGS

The beef on weck is a local favorite around Buffalo, New York, but it’s hardly known outside the region. What is it? A sandwich that consists of thinly sliced rare roast beef dipped in its own juices and piled high on a salty, crusty, hard kummelweck roll. The roll (whose name is shortened to “weck”) is key to the sandwich—it’s a Kaiser roll covered with pretzel salt and caraway or cumin seeds. The sandwich is usually served in a bar, and diners typically apply horseradish liberally. Traditional accompaniments include French fries and a dill pickle.

The sandwich first appeared in Buffalo’s German American community around the turn of the 20th century. According to most historians, a baker named William Wahr, who emigrated from Germany’s Black Forest region, created the kummelweck roll. Wahr worked for a saloon-owner named Joe Gohn, who liked the roll’s unique taste, added thinly sliced beef, and began serving the sandwich to tourists visiting Buffalo for the 1901 Pan American Expo.

Albany began as a Dutch fur-trading post called Beverwijck—”beaver district.”