georgesquier

Per The Tennessean (Newspaper) By Frank Daniels III fdanielsiii@tennessean.com We often cite the establishment, in 1958, of the Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency, and its creation of the first packet-switched network, ARPAnet, as the beginning of the Internet. But the American military's work in creating the Internet can be dated to 1910, when Army officer George Owen Squier (pronounced like "square") invented a way to let a telephone line carry multiple signals at one time. His discovery, multiplexing, paved the way for the development of telephone and data networks; as did his later invention of sending music over electric wires. First Ph.D. in the Army Squier was born in Dryden, Mich., on March 21, 1865, and graduated from West Point military academy when he was 22. He was a rare intellect. He was accepted to Johns Hopkins University, and, in 1893, became the Army's first person to receive a doctorate. He spent his career inventing and forging new structures in the U.S. Army. His first invention, in 1896, with Albert Cushing Crehore, was a camera that measured the speed of warheads as they left the barrel of a cannon. Pioneer of aeronautics Squier was assigned to the U.S. Signal Corps after the Spanish-American War, where he was responsible for creating the Aeronautical Division. He was the first Army officer to fly on an airplane, and, in 1909, was part of the team that bought the Army's first airplanes from the Wright brothers. The aeronautics division was responsible for developing the communications and navigation equipment and procedures for military aircraft. In 1910, while searching for ways to increase the number of calls Signal Corps could handle on its telephone network, Squier developed a way to multiplex calls, similar to how multiple signals could be bundled together on the telegraph network, called carrier frequency. He was promoted to major general and chief signals officer for the Army during World War I, responsible for all communications and aviation during the war. In 1919, he was elected to the National Academy of Science for his work in telephony, radio and aviation. 'Grandfather of the Internet' Building on his multiplexing work, in 1922, Squier developed a system to "pipe" music using electric wires. He was granted a number of patents covering the delivery of music and other information over wires. His ideas are foundational to the concept of the Internet. His Wired Radio Inc. became popular under the brand Muzak. Squier retired from the Army in 1924, and died in Washington on March 24, 1934. The troop ship USS General G.O. Squier was named in his honor in 1943. Reach Frank Daniels III at 615-881-7039, and on Twitter: @fdanielsiii.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Owen_Squier

The Sunday Oregonian, July 29, 1917, SECTION FIVE, Image 67 published a cropped version of this photo with the caption: "General George O. Squier is the chief of the Signal Corps of the United States Army, and will have control of the organizing and equipping of the great flying corps for which Congress is appropriating millions." oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn83045782/1917-07-29/ed-1/se...

Thanks Film&PhotoArchivist for informing us of Gen. Squier's engineering contributions. And thank you B-59 for locating this photo in a newspaper. We'll update our catalog record.

Major General George Owen Squier (March 21, 1865 – March 24, 1934) was born in Dryden, Michigan, United States.[1] He graduated from the United States Military Academy in the Class of 1887 and received a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University in 1893. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Owen_Squier

See

www.arlingtoncemetery.net/gosquier.htm is his record at Arlington Cemetery. "As Chief Signal Officer during World War I, Squier was responsible not only for radio, but also was charged with the entire aviation and communications mission of the United States Army. During the war, Squier succeeded in opening two great Army laboratories one at Fort Monmouth for radio and another at Langley Field, Virginia, for aviation. Squier can be credited with the Army's institutionalization of scientific research and development for military purposes." "Shortly before his retirement in 1924, Squier turned his attention to a new application of the transmission technologies he helped to develop: piped-in music. His idea led to the establishment in 1922 of the music service Wired Radio, which is much better known by its present name, given it by Squier shortly before his death: Muzak."

Richard Norton and swanq: Thanks. We will add some details about Squier next time we update.