Innovator Aruthur Collins: Iowa Time Machine February 25, 1987

Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On February 25, 1987, innovative Iowan Arthur Collins passed away. Arthur Collins, founder of Collins Radio Company, the forerunner of Rockwell Collins, stands as a pioneering radio engineer and entrepreneur.

Born in Oklahoma, Arthur A. Collins moved to Cedar Rapids at the age of 7. His father founded the Collins Farm Company in 1925, an organization that combined small farms into a larger cooperative. Even as a child, Arthur showed an incredible interest in radio. At age 14, he earned his first amateur radio license and designed and built his own radio.

In 1933, Collins started a radio company to design and produce shortwave radio and AM broadcasting equipment. Quickly gaining customers in the scientific community, including the far-famed Arctic explorer Commander Byrd, the products coming out of the Collins shop helped to amplify communications across the world. During World War II, Collins won the contract to serve as the principal supplier of radio and navigation equipment used by the United States military. Building on the success of the war years, Collins continued to win government contracts as the Space Race defined the Cold War. The primary supplier for the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo space missions, Collins helped link astronauts to Earth.

In 1973, Rockwell International acquired Collins Radio Company to form Rockwell Collins, Inc., a company dedicated to serving as Rockwell International's avionics division. Acquired by United Technologies Corporation in 2018, the company now operates as Collins Aerospace. #Iowa #OTD #History #Radio #Innovation