On January 5, 1886, U.S. Patent No. 333,564, issued to William Stanley, Jr. on a System of Electric Lighting.

William Stanley Jr. was born in Brooklyn, New York, on November 28, 1858. The ‘564 was one of 129 patents, mostly related to electrical lighting, he received during his career. Among other things he invented the first practical AC transformer and the first complete system of high voltage AC transmission including generators, transformers and high-voltage transmission lines.

In 1913, he also patented an all-steel vacuum bottle, and formed the Stanley Bottle Company. Yes, that Stanley Bottle Company. The original simple reusable water bottles that were a success among blue-collar workers and outdoorsmen, it was not until 2016, long after William passed, that the company launched it’s Quench line of tumblers that became so popular.

In another footnote of history, William’s son, Harold Stanley, went on to found the modern day financial firm of Morgan Stanley with J. P. Morgan’s grandson, Henry Sturgis Morgan.