George Owen Squier

{{Infobox military person

|name = George Owen Squier

|birth_date = {{Birth date|1865|03|21}}[http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/squier-george-o.pdf "Biographical Memoir of George Owen Squier 1865–1934"], by Arthur E. Kennelly, National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Biographical Memoirs Volume XX, presented to the Academy at the Annual Meeting, 1938. Retrieved Apr 1, 2010.

|death_date = {{death date and age|1934|03|24|1865|03|21}}

|birth_place = Dryden, Michigan, U.S.

|death_place = Washington, D.C., U.S.

|placeofburial = Arlington National Cemetery

|image = George Owen Squier.jpg

|caption = Major General George Owen Squier

|nickname =

|allegiance = {{flag|United States of America|1912}}

|branch = 25px United States Army

|serviceyears = 1887–1923

|rank = 30px Major general

|commands = Chief Signal Officer

|unit =

|battles = Spanish–American War
World War I

|awards = Distinguished Service Medal
Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
Order of the Crown of Italy
Legion of Honor
Elliott Cresson Medal
John Scott Medal
Franklin Medal

|laterwork = businessman, scientist

|relations =

}}

George Owen Squier (March 21, 1865 – March 24, 1934) was an American general, scientist, and inventor{{Cite book |title=George Owen Squier: U.s. Army Major General, Inventor |quote=During the 1920s and '30s, Major General George Owen Squier was one of the most famous men in America and abroad, as a scientist, soldier, military ...|isbn=978-0786476350 |last1=Clark |first1=Paul W. |last2=Lyons|first2=Laurence A.|year=2014|publisher=McFarland }} best known for inventing and popularizing what today is called Muzak.{{cite web |title=George Owen Squier Invents Muzak

|url=http://www.historyofinformation.com/expanded.php?id=3821 |quote=In 1922 American Army Signal Corps officer and inventor Major General George Owen Squier of Washington, D. C. created "Wired Radio," a service that ...}}{{cite web |title=The rise of elevator Muzak began with this Michigan inventor |date=13 September 2017 |url=http://www.michiganradio.org/post/rise-elevator-muzak-began-michigan-inventor |quote=Major General George Owen Squier. The name may not be familiar, but his work in the fields of aeronautics and radio communications ...}}

Life and military career

File:Portrait of George Owen Squier.jpg

Squier was born in Dryden, Michigan. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in the Class of 1887 and received a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University in 1893. He wrote and edited many books and articles on the subject of radio and electricity.{{Cite book|last=Kennelly|first= Arthur E. |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/11861067|title=Biographical memoir of George Owen Squier, 1865–1934|oclc=11861067}} An inventor, he and Dartmouth professor Albert Cushing Crehore developed a magneto-optical streak camera "The Polarizing Photo-chronograph" in 1896 to measure the speed of projectiles both inside a cannon and directly after they left the cannon barrel. This was one of the earliest photonic programs. They also worked to develop synchronous AC telegraphic systems. His biggest contribution was that of telephone carrier multiplexing in 1910 for which he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1919.{{Cite web |title=George Owen Squier |url=https://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/deceased-members/20000963.html |access-date=2023-10-19 |website=www.nasonline.org}} He was also an elected member of the American Philosophical Society.{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=George+O.+Squier&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2023-10-19 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}

In September 1900 Squier sailed from New York for Manila on the cable ship USAT Burnside. He was in command of a 25-man Signal Corps detachment that laid the first American telegraph cables in the Philippines.{{Cite news |date=16 September 1900 |title=The Cable Ship Burnside |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/88129921/?match=1&terms=burnside%20cable |work=New York Tribune |pages=34}}

As executive officer to the Chief Signal Officer, U.S. Signal Corps in 1907, Squier was instrumental in the establishment of the Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps, the first organizational ancestor of the U.S. Air Force.{{cite book|last=Davis|first=Henry Blaine Jr.|title=Generals in Khaki|publisher=Pentland Press, Inc.|year= 1998|isbn= 978-1571970886|oclc=40298151|page=346}} He also was the first military passenger in an airplane on September 12, 1908, and, working with the Wright Brothers, was responsible for the purchase of the first airplanes by the US Army in 1909.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}

From May 1916 to February 1917, he was Chief of the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps, the first successor of the Aeronautical Division, before being promoted to major general and appointed Chief Signal Officer during World War I.

In 1922, he created Wired Radio, a service which piped music to businesses and subscribers over wires. In 1934, he changed the service's name to 'Muzak'.

Asked how to say his name, he told The Literary Digest it was pronounced like the word square.{{cite book |first=Charles Earle |last=Funk |author-link=Charles Earle Funk |title= What's the name, please? A guide to the correct pronunciation of current prominent names |location=New York |publisher=Funk & Wagnalls |year=1936 |oclc=1463642}}

He was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution.{{cite book |title=A National Register of the Society, Sons of the American Revolution |publisher=Press of A. H. Kellogg |url=https://archive.org/details/anationalregist00revogoog |quote=Sons of the American Revolution, ... George Owen Squier, U.S. Army (4257). |author1=Sons of the American Revolution |author2=Louis Henry Cornish |author3=Alonzo Howard Clark |year=1902}}

Death

He died in Washington, D.C., at George Washington HospitalAssociated Press, "Former Leader of Air Service Dies", San Bernardino Daily Sun, San Bernardino, California, 25 March 1934, Vol. 40, p. 1. on March 24, 1934 of pneumonia, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.[https://ancexplorer.army.mil/publicwmv/#/arlington-national/search/results/1/CgZzcXVpZXISBmdlb3JnZQ--/ Burial Detail: Squier, George O] – ANC Explorer

Awards

Distinguished Service Medal
Spanish War Service Medal
Philippine Campaign Medal
World War I Victory Medal
Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
Commander of the Legion of Honor (France)
Commander of the Order of the Crown of Italy

Dates of rank

class="wikitable" style="background:white"

No Insignia

| Cadet, United States Military Academy: 1 July 1883

No Insignia in 1886

| Second Lieutenant, Regular Army: 12 June 1887

File:US-OF1A.svg

| First Lieutenant, Regular Army: 30 June 1893

File:US-O3 insignia.svg

| Captain, Volunteer Army: 1 June 1898
(Date of rank was 20 May 1898.)

File:US-O5 insignia.svg

| Lieutenant Colonel, Volunteer Army: 20 July 1898

File:US-OF1A.svg

| First Lieutenant, Regular Army: 7 December 1898
(Reverted to permanent rank.)

File:US-O3 insignia.svg

| Captain, Volunteer Army: 17 April 1899

File:US-O3 insignia.svg

| Captain, Regular Army: 1 July 1901
(Date of rank was 2 February 1901.)

File:US-O4 insignia.svg

| Major, Regular Army: 2 March 1903

File:US-O5 insignia.svg

| Lieutenant Colonel, Regular Army: 17 March 1913

File:US-O7 insignia.svg

| Brigadier General, Temporary: 14 February 1917

File:US-O6 insignia.svg

| Colonel, Regular Army: 12 April 1917

File:US-O8 insignia.svg

| Major General, Temporary: 8 October 1917

File:US-O6 insignia.svg

| Colonel, Regular Army: 14 February 1921
(Reverted to permanent rank.)

File:US-O8 insignia.svg

| Major General, Temporary: 28 March 1921
(Date of rank was 6 October 1917.)

File:US-O8 insignia.svg

| Major General, Retired list: 31 December 1923

Legacy

File:USS General G.O. Squier (AP-130).jpg

In 1943, the U.S. Navy named troopship {{USS|General G. O. Squier|AP-130}} in his honor. It was the lead ship of its class, which was known as {{Sclass|General G. O. Squier|transport ship|4}} of transport ships.

General Squier Park, a historic district and waterpark in his hometown of Dryden, Michigan, is named in his honor.{{cite web|url=http://www.lapeercountyweb.org/parks.htm|title=Lapeer County Parks|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120422133604/http://www.lapeercountyweb.org/parks.htm|archive-date=2012-04-22}}{{cite web |url=http://www.mcgi.state.mi.us/hso/sites/8355.htm |title=MI State Historic Preservation Objects |access-date=2011-06-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120601091642/http://www.mcgi.state.mi.us/hso/sites/8355.htm |archive-date=2012-06-01 }}

Publications

{{cite book |title=The Polarizing Photo-Chronograph |last=Crehore |first=Albert Cushing |author2=George Owen Squier |year=1897 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/polarizingphoto00squigoog}}
{{cite journal |last=Squier |first=George Owen |author-link=George Owen Squier |author-mask=1 |year=1908 |title=The Present Status of Military Aeronautics |journal=Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution |pages=117 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gtQWAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA117 |access-date=2009-08-07}}
{{cite book |title=Multiplex Telephony And Telegraphy By Means Of Electric Waves Guided By Wires |last=Squier |first=George Owen |author-link=George Owen Squier |author-mask=1 |year=1919 |publisher=Government Printing Office |location=Washington |url=https://archive.org/details/multiplexteleph00offigoog}}

References

External links

[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/America/United_States/Army/USMA/Cullums_Register/3180*.html George O. Squier (Cullum's Register entry)]
[http://americanhistory.si.edu/westpoint/history_5b3.html Smithsonian West Point: George Squier]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20041009192732/http://www.nas.edu/history/members/squier.html National Academy of Science]
[http://signal.army.mil/OLD/history/08_squier.html United States Army Signal Center] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140419011745/http://signal.army.mil/OLD/history/08_squier.html |date=2014-04-19 }}
[https://generalsquier.org About Major General George Owen Squier]

Category:1865 births

Category:1934 deaths

Category:American telecommunications industry businesspeople

Category:20th-century American inventors

Category:19th-century United States Army personnel

Category:History of aviation

Category:Burials at Arlington National Cemetery

Category:Deaths from pneumonia in Washington, D.C.

Category:Johns Hopkins University alumni

Category:Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army)

Category:American recipients of the Legion of Honour

Category:American military personnel of the Spanish–American War