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Elmer Ambrose Sperry
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<p>Elmer Ambrose Sperry Sr. (October 12, 1860 – June 16, 1930) was an American <a href="/facts/Inventor/P3LdUHBY">inventor</a> and <a href="/facts/Entrepreneur/gr8E0Su2">entrepreneur</a>, most famous for construction, two years after <a href="/facts/Hermann_Ansch%C3%BCtz-Kaempfe/F1bn96KK">Hermann Anschütz-Kaempfe</a>, of the <a href="/facts/Gyrocompass/nS0m2Pod">gyrocompass</a> and as founder of the <a href="/facts/Sperry_Corporation/PkD6zESp">Sperry Gyroscope Company</a>. He was known as the "father of modern navigation technology". </p><p>Sperry's compasses and stabilizers were adopted by the <a href="/facts/United_States_Navy/xYK0fUou">United States Navy</a> and used in both world wars. He also worked closely with Japanese companies and the Japanese government and was honored after his death with a volume of reminiscences published in Japan. </p>