If you caught the video in which I hosted a tour of my new studio, you heard me mention that the building had originally been a factory that produced submarine ball bearings.
Having done a little more research, it turns out that the company produced a different kind of bearing. The company was Kingsbury Machine Works, owned by Dr. Albert Kingsbury. And, evidently, this guy was hot-patooties when it came to designing bearings that could withstand a phenomenal load -- like those needed to operate hydroelectric generators.
His first installation -- built in 1912 at Pennsylvania Power & Light’s Holtwood generating station on the Susquehanna River -- is still in operation today. It's recognized by the American Society Of Mechanical Engineers as one of only a few International Engineering Landmarks.
But here's what made me smile. From Kingsbury.com:
Professor Kingsbury's talents extended to business as well. He sucessfully shepherded the company through the Great Depression without laying off any employees. Instead, he cut the work week back to two days. When the company prospered again in the early 1940s, Kingsbury astonished his workers by repaying them for every day of work they had missed.
And now it's the world headquarters for Evil Inc. It just don't seem right, does it?
Now I gotta find out what my office was originally used for. Probably healing orphaned lepers or something...
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