Henry F. Phillips - wikipedia Henry F. Phillips Phillips screw head Henry Frank Phillips ( June 4, 1889 -- April 13, 1958 ) was a U.S. businessman from Portland, Oregon. The Phillips - head ( `` crosshead '' ) screw and screwdriver are named after him. The importance of the crosshead screw design lies in its self - centering property, useful on automated production lines that use powered screwdrivers. Phillips ' major contribution was in driving the crosshead concept forward to the point where it was adopted by screwmakers and automobile companies. The credited inventor of the Phillips screw was John P. Thompson who, in 1932, patented ( # 1,908,080 ) a recessed cruciform screw and in 1933, a screwdriver for it. Biography After failing to interest manufacturers, Thompson sold his self - centering design to Phillips in 1935. Phillips formed the Phillips Screw Company in 1934. After refining the design himself ( U.S. Patent # 2,046,343, U.S. Patents # 2,046,837 to 2,046,840 ) for the American Screw Company of Providence, Rhode Island, Phillips succeeded in bringing the design to industrial manufacturing and promoting its rapid adoption as a machine screw standard. One of the first customers was General Motors who used the innovative design in 1936 for its Cadillac assembly - lines. By 1940, 85 % of U.S. screw manufacturers had a license for the design. Due to failing health, Phillips retired in 1945. He died in 1958. He went to Benson Polytechnic High School. References Listen to this article ( info / dl ) This audio file was created from a revision of the article `` Henry F. Phillips '' dated 2008 - 05 - 04, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. ( Audio help ) More spoken articles Jump up ^ U.S. Patent 2,046,837 Jump up ^ Adams, Cecil. `` Why did this guy Phillips think we needed a new type of screw ? ''. The Straight Dope. Retrieved 9 May 2014. Jump up ^ John P. Thompson, Inventor of Phillips screw Jump up ^ `` Phillips Timeline - 1935 ''. Phillips Screw Company. Retrieved 18 November 2011. Jump up ^ `` Cross Shaped Slots Help Guide Screws '' Popular Science, January 1936, page 38 middle of page Jump up ^ `` About Phillips - A Historic View ''. Phillips Screw Company. Archived from the original on 2011 - 07 - 10. Retrieved 2010 - 01 - 11. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Henry_F._Phillips&oldid=805439098 '' Categories : 1890 births 1958 deaths Businesspeople from Portland, Oregon American inventors Screws Hidden categories : Spoken articles Articles with hAudio microformats Talk About Wikipedia Беларуская ( тарашкевіца ) ‎ Čeština Deutsch Nederlands Português Svenska Türkçe Edit links This page was last edited on 15 October 2017, at 11 : 56. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: where did the phillips screwdriver get its name
Answer: Henry Frank Phillips