Albert Bishop Chance | |
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Personal details | |
Born | Albert Bishop Chance May 26, 1873 Centralia, Missouri, U.S. |
Died | February 8, 1949 near Saint Petersburg, Florida, U.S. | (aged 75)
Spouse |
Frances Chance (m. 1898) |
Albert Bishop Chance (1873–1949) was a businessman and the inventor of the first practical earth anchor.[1] He founded the A.B. Chance Company in 1907 in his hometown of Centralia, Missouri, where he would also become mayor[2] He invented the earth anchor after an ice storm knocked down his parents' company's telephone lines. He was a philanthropist to the University of Missouri, and participated in bringing the first hospital to Boone County. He was inducted into the Boone County Historical Society Hall of Fame in 2010.[3] The Albert Bishop Chance House and Gardens were placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.[4]
The A.B. Chance Company would be acquired by Hubbell Incorporated in 1994.[5] The Chance brand is still sold today.