Alkaline Batteries

(1959) 1959) Invented by Lewis Urry (1927-2004) As an inventor, he was not a household name. But Lewis Urry’s unsung achievement nearly half a century ago transformed the way we live and helped usher in a world of cordless electric razors, camcorders, cellphones, laptop computers and Walkmans. The Canadian-born Urry was a 28-year-old development engineer for the Canadian National Carbon Co a Toronto division of Union Carbide that made Eveready batteries when he was transferred to Eveready’s Cleveland lab in 1955. His assignment: Find a way to make standard carbon-zinc batteries last longer. “In those days, toys were coming out that ran on batteries, but they didn’t sell well because the carbon batteries on the market died after a few minutes’ use,” Urry told the Washingto ton Times in 1999. U Urry held 51 patents, including a number fo for the lithium battery, which is used in cellp phones and cameras. In 1999, he was inducted into the hall of fame a at the Smithsonian Institution, where he prese sented the first prototype alkaline battery and th the first manufactured cylindrical alkaline c cell to the museum’s collection. They were p put on display in the same room as Thomas E Edison’s light bulb.