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]
John Higson Cover Jr. | |
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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 |
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.