Frederick Grinnell

Frederick Grinnell (1836 - 1905) was a pioneer in fire safety.

He was born in 1836 at New Bedford, Massachussetts, USA. In 1855 he graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. [cite web| title =Frederick Grinnell, Class of 1855, Pioneer in Fire Safety, 1836-1905| work =Rensselaer Alumni Hall of Fame| publisher =Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute| url =http://www.rpi.edu/dept/NewsComm/sub/fame/inductees/frederickgrinnell.html| accessdate =2007-06-14] Inventor, engineer, and industrialist, Grinnell was the creator of the first practical automatic Fire sprinkler, which has made an enormous contribution to Fire safety. In 1892, Grinnell organized the General Fire Extinguisher Co., an amalgamation of several smaller companies, which became the foremost organization in its field of manufacture. Grinnell died in 1905 in his home town of New Bedford. In 1919, General Fire Extinguisher Co. was renamed Grinnell Co. In 1969, Grinnell Co. was purchased by ITT (International Telephone & Telegraph) and became ITT Grinnell. A few years later, ITT Grinnell sold its US industrial activities to Tyco International. Grinnell remains today a trade mark inside the Tyco group. In 2001 Grinnell Fire Protection was merged with the Simplex Time Recorder Company to form SimplexGrinnell, which is the largest fire protection company in the world.