Michael Joseph Owens | |
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Michael Joseph Owens (1859-1923) |
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Born | January 1, 1859 Mason County, West Virginia |
Died | December 27, 1923 Toledo, Ohio |
(aged 64)
Work | |
Significant projects | production of glass bottles |
Significant awards | Elliott Cresson Medal (1915) |
Michael Joseph Owens (January 1, 1859 – December 27, 1923) was an inventor of machines that could automate the production of glass bottles.
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He was born in Mason County, West Virginia on January 1, 1859. He left grade school at the age of 10 for a glassware apprenticeship at J.H. Hobbs, Brockunier and Company in Wheeling, West Virginia.
In 1888 he moved to Toledo, Ohio and worked for the Toledo Glass Factory of Edward Drummond Libbey. He was later promoted to foreman and then to supervisor. He formed the Owens Bottle Machine Company in 1903. His machines could produce glass bottles at a rate of 240 per minute, and reduce labor costs by 80%.[1]
Owens and Libbey entered into a partnership and the company was then renamed the Owens Bottle Company in 1919. In 1929 the company merged with the Illinois Glass Company to become the Owens-Illinois Glass Company. [2][3]
He died on December 27, 1923.[4]