John Miller By: Grant “Have fun on the roller coaster and keep all arms and legs inside the vehicle.” John Miller was born August 1872 in Galesburg, Illinois. In his early career, he worked with LaMarcus Thompson and was a consultant for the Philadelphia Toboggan Company. In 1910, he invented the Safety Ratchet. This invention helped roller coasters not slide back down the lift hill. In 1919 he invented the Upstop Wheels. This helped the roller coasters from flying of the track. Also very close to when he invented the Upstop Wheels World War 1 ended! World War 1 ended the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. He invented the Upstop Wheels in 1919 so it was very close. He died June 24, 1941, designing a coaster in Houston, Texas. Did you know that John Miller invented over 100 things to help people be safe on a roller coaster. Two major things he invented were the Upstop Wheels and the Safety Ratchet. Like I said in the first paragraph the Safety Ratchet will help roller coasters not slide the lift hill. The Upstop Wheels help the roller coaster not shoot off the track. One other interesting fact was that he worked with LaMarcus Thompson. LaMarcus invented the roller coaster! These inventions benefitted people by keeping them safe. If John Miller wasn’t born the Upstop Wheel wouldn’t be invented and people would still be flying of the tracks. If the Safety Ratchet wouldn’t have been invented people would be sliding down the lift hill. “Get all your belongings off the vehicle. Hoped you had fun on the roller coaster.”
Works Cited
Wikipedia. "John Miller (entrepreneur)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 29 Mar. 2013. Web. 01 Apr. 2013. Pescovitz, David. "Biography: John Miller." Biography: John Miller. N.p., O1 Apr. 2013. Web. 01 Apr. 2013. "Inventor of the Week: Archive." Inventor of the Week: Archive. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2013. "John Miller: The Roller Coaster Designer - Entertainment Designer." Entertainment Designer RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2013.