William Nelson (1878/9 – October 3, 1903) was an American inventor and an employee of
General Electric
General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston.
Over the year ...
in
Schenectady, New York
Schenectady ( ) is a City (New York), city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the United States Census 2020, 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-most populo ...
.
On the afternoon of October 3, 1903, in
New York state
New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...
, Nelson tested a new
motorized bicycle
A motorized bicycle is a bicycle with an motor or engine and transmission used either to power the vehicle unassisted, or to assist with pedalling. Since it sometimes retains both pedals and a discrete connected drive for rider-powered propu ...
he had invented. While trying out the motor bicycle on a hill opposite the home of his father-in-law, William H. Sterling, Nelson fell from the machine and was instantly killed at the age of 24.
References
1870s births
1903 deaths
Accidental deaths in New York (state)
Inventors killed by their own invention
20th-century American inventors
Year of birth missing
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