Jack Cover
| John Higson Cover, Jr. | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | John Higson Cover April 6, 1920 New York City |
| Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Mission Viejo, California |
| Residence | San Clemente |
| Other names | Jack Cover |
| Known for | Taser inventor |
| Spouse(s) | Ginny |
| Children | 4 |
John "Jack" Higson Cover, Jr. (April 6, 1920 – February 7, 2009) was the inventor of the Taser stun gun.[1]
Biography
Cover was born in New York City on April 6, 1920, and grew up in Chicago.[1] His father was a professor of economics. His mother earned a mathematics master’s degree at the University of Chicago (U of C).[2] Cover earned a bachelor's degree and a doctorate in nuclear physics at U of C,[1] studying under Enrico Fermi.[3] During World War II, he was an Army Air Force test pilot. He later worked at the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake. He was a scientist at North American Aviation from 1952 until 1964 and also worked for NASA[3] (Apollo program), IBM and Hughes Aircraft.[1]
In 1970, he formed Taser Systems, Inc., named for a Tom Swift novel about the Thomas A. Swift's Electric Rifle. Because the Taser used gunpowder to launch the darts, the federal government considered it a firearm, a classification that ruled out a civilian market and also discouraged police and military sales.[1]
Private life
Cover was married three times, the first two ended in divorce. His last marriage was to Ginny. He had four children, a son and three daughters.[2] He had Alzheimer's disease, and died of pneumonia on February 7, 2009 at the Golden West Retirement Homer in Mission Viejo, California.[1][2][4]
Patents
- U.S. Patent 3,803,463 July 10, 1972; Weapon for Immobilization and Capture
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Cover's obituary, Time Magazine, early 2009 (before March)
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
