George Eastman
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George Eastman (b 12 July 1854, Waterville, New York – d 14 March 1932, Rochester, New York) was an American inventor and the founder of Eastman Kodak, through which he propelled photography from an expensive specialised activity into a part of daily life. He is now celebrated as the father of popular photography.
- 1860: Family moves to Rochester
- 1862: His father, George Washington Eastman dies; George leaves school and works at an insurance company to support his mother and sisters
- 1878: buys a photographic outfit - becoming fascinated by photography. The weight of the equipment, and complexity and effort required to prepare emulsions, coat and process the glass plates spurs Eastman to research simpler ways to prepare and develop photographs.
- 1880: invented and patented a dry-plate coating machine
- 1881: formed the Eastman Dry Plate Company
- 1884, Eastman Dry Plate and Film Company patents and manufactures roll film.
- 1888: Kodak camera introduced - together with the word "Kodak"
- 1892: Company renamed "Eastman Kodak Company"
- 1900: "Brownie" camera introduced, price $1, to a design commissioned from Frank A. Brownell by Eastman
- 1925: Retires from Kodak, and began to travel extensively - in the US and Africa
Eastman was very successful in business, and gave away vast sums for education, arts, parks, health and other charities, and bequeathed most of his fortune to the University of Rochester. Part of this legacy became the George Eastman House museum.
