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George Owen Squier
George Owen Squier (1865-1934) was a man of diverse accomplishments. Assigned to the Army Signal Corps after serving in the Spanish-American War, he worked on improving wireless telegraphy and telephony. His invention in 1910 of "multiplexing" allowed telephone wires to carry multiple messages; the carrier frequency principle involved was later adapted to other types of transmission, including FM radio. In 1908, he became the first passenger to fly in an airplane and subsequently helped establish the Air Service, forerunner of today's Air Force, in the Army Signal Corps. He was elected to membership in the National Academy of Sciences in 1919, while still Chief Signal Officer in the U.S. Army. Shortly before his retirement in 1924, Squier devised a new application of the transmission technologies that he helped develop--wired radio. This service, which provides music by cable to subscribers, is still in existence today and is known by the name Squier gave it shortly before his death--Muzak.