John Higson Cover Jr. | |
---|---|
Born | John Higson Cover April 6, 1920
New York City, U.S. |
Died | February 7, 2009 | (aged 88)
Other names | Jack Cover |
Known for | Taser inventor |
Spouse | Ginny |
Children | 5 |
John Higson Cover Jr. (April 6, 1920 – February 7, 2009) was an American aerospace scientist who was the inventor of the taser stun gun. [1]
Jack Cover was born in New York City on April 6, 1920, and grew up in Chicago. [1] His father was a professor of economics. His mother earned a mathematics master's degree at the University of Chicago. [2] Cover earned a bachelor's degree and a doctorate in nuclear physics at the same university, [1] studying under Enrico Fermi. [3] During World War II, he was an Army Air Force test pilot. He later worked at the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake. He was a scientist at North American Aviation from 1952 until 1964 and also worked for NASA [3] (Apollo program), IBM and Hughes Aircraft. [1]
In 1970, he formed Taser Systems, Inc., named for a Tom Swift novel about the Thomas A. Swift's Electric Rifle. Because the Taser used gunpowder to launch the darts, the federal government considered it a firearm, a classification that ruled out a civilian market and also discouraged police and military sales. [1]
Cover was married three times, the first two ended in divorce. His last marriage was to Ginny. He had five children, two sons and three daughters. [2] He had Alzheimer's disease, and died of pneumonia on February 7, 2009, at the Golden West Retirement Home in Mission Viejo, California. [1] [2] [4]
Jack Cover, an aerospace scientist who invented the Taser stun gun. a device used by thousands of law enforcement agencies to subdue unruly offenders with electrical shocks -- has died. He was 88.
John "Jack" H. Cover, the inventor of the Taser stun gun used by thousands of police agencies around the world, has died. He was 88.