General Electric (GE) is a major technology conglomerate founded by Thomas Edison in 1878. It has grown to become one of the most powerful companies in the world, with interests in diverse industries such as electric lighting, power transmission, medical equipment, and transportation. GE has continued to innovate over the years, introducing new products and technologies in various industries.
The General Electric Company, commonly abbreviated to simply GE, is a major technology conglomerate headquartered in the United States. It was founded in Menlo Park, New Jersey in 1878 by Thomas Edison, the inventor of the light bulb. It has gone on to become one of the most powerful and dynamic companies in the world, and as of 2008 was the tenth largest company in the world by market capitalization. It is regarded by many as the most successful single conglomerate and was a conglomerate long before the practice became commonplace in the 1960s.
Thomas Edison is widely hailed as a genius, both as an inventor and businessman, and it was his vision that laid the foundation for General Electric. In 1876 he opened his first real laboratory in Menlo Park, where he began to explore the possibilities of many different inventions that he had seen at that year’s Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. This workshop would eventually produce arguably one of the most important inventions of the modern age: electric light.
In 1890, Edison formed a company to bring his various businesses together under one roof and called it the Edison General Electric Company. Two years later Edison merged with its main competitor, the Thomas-Houston Company, and they called the new company the General Electric Company. The move was largely an attempt to combine their various patents, to allow for greater profitability on both sides, as it allowed them to freely use the many smaller inventions each inventor had created in their larger projects.
Over the years, GE has continued to grow and produce diverse products for a variety of applications. Many of Edison’s early inventions formed the backbone of various lines through the 19th century, 20th century, and up to the present day. Electric lighting, power transmission, medical equipment, and transportation were all areas in which Edison held patents and formed small companies, and they are all areas in which this conglomerate has large interests today.
Over the years General Electric has continued to innovate in a wide range of industries and has opened divisions specializing in everything from plastics to airplanes to electric fans. Early in the 20th century, the company had the world’s first voice radio broadcast, the first electric toaster oven, and began work on vacuum tubes that would herald the dawn of the electronic age. In the 1910s and 1920s General Electric continued to innovate, setting a new altitude record with an airplane, making the refrigerator a common word, and building the world’s largest electric structure on the Panama Canal.
Through the Great Depression, GE continued to innovate in other ways, introducing a Consumer Finance system to enable consumers to purchase home appliances even in challenging times. In the World War II era, the company contributed to the war effort, innovating in radar technology and creating the first jet engine. From the 1950s to the new millennium, General Electric continued to grow, tapping into emerging markets and investing massive resources to push the limits of technologies in every industry.
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