William Hoskins (inventor)

William Hoskins
Williams with his family
William Hoskins, with daughter Florence and wife Ada, c. 1885–1890
Born1862
Died1934 (aged 72)
NationalityAmerican
OccupationInventor
Notable workBilliard chalk, electric heating coil

William Hoskins (1862–1934)[1][2][3] was an American inventor, chemist, electrical engineer, and entrepreneur in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, most active in Chicago, Illinois. He became the co-inventor in 1897 of modern billiard chalk with professional carom billiards player William A. Spinks.[4][5] He is, however, best known for the invention of the electric heating coil (the basis for numerous ubiquitous household and industrial appliances, including electric stoves, space heaters, and toasters) and the invention of the first electric toaster.[6][7]

  1. ^ "C.H.i.C. Timeline 1843–1880" Archived August 13, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, A Guide to the Chemical History of Chicago, Chemical History in Chicago Project, date unspecified; accessed February 24, 2007
  2. ^ "CHiC Details: Hoskins, William" Archived October 6, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, A Guide to the Chemical History of Chicago, Chemical History in Chicago Project, date unspecified; accessed February 24, 2007
  3. ^ Leonard, John William; Marquis, Albert Nelson (1911). "William Hoskins entry". The Book of Chicagoans: A Biographical Dictionary of Leading Living Men of the City of Chicago. Vol. 2. self-published. p. 343. The entry can also be found on p. 296 of the orig. 1905 ed. Subsequent editions (1917, 1926) were titled Who's Who in Chicago.
  4. ^ "The World's Most Tragic Man Is the One Who Never Starts" Archived August 25, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, Clark, Neil M.; originally published in The American magazine, May 1927; republished in Hotwire: The Newsletter of the Toaster Museum Foundation, vol. 3, no. 3, online edition; accessed February 24, 2007. The piece is largely an interview of Hoskins.
  5. ^ U.S. patent 0,578,514, March 9, 1897
  6. ^ "Toasters". Bethany Mission Gallery. Archived from the original on March 31, 2018. Retrieved December 31, 2018.
  7. ^ "Hoskins Manufacturing Company | People | The Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments". waywiser.fas.harvard.edu. 2018. Retrieved December 31, 2018.