# George Owen Squier

George Owen Squier (March 21, 1865 – March 24, 1934) was an American general, scientist, and inventor best known for inventing and popularizing what today is called Muzak.

## Life and military career

Squier was born in Dryden, Michigan. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in the Class of 1887 and received a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University in 1893. He wrote and edited many books and articles on the subject of radio and electricity. An inventor, he and Dartmouth professor Albert Cushing Crehore developed a magneto-optical streak camera "The Polarizing Photo-chronograph" in 1896 to measure the speed of projectiles both inside a cannon and directly after they left the cannon barrel. This was one of the earliest photonic programs. They also worked to develop synchronous AC telegraphic systems. His biggest contribution was that of telephone carrier multiplexing in 1910 for which he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1919. He was also an elected member of the American Philosophical Society.
In September 1900 Squier sailed from New York for Manila on the cable ship USAT Burnside. He was in command of a 25-man Signal Corps detachment that laid the first American telegraph cables in the Philippines.
As executive officer to the Chief Signal Officer, U.S. Signal Corps in 1907, Squier was instrumental in the establishment of the Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps, the first organizational ancestor of the U.S. Air Force. He also was the first military passenger in an airplane on September 12, 1908, and, working with the Wright Brothers, was responsible for the purchase of the first airplanes by the US Army in 1909.
From May 1916 to February 1917, he was Chief of the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps, the first successor of the Aeronautical Division, before being promoted to major general and appointed Chief Signal Officer during World War I.
In 1922, he created Wired Radio, a service which piped music to businesses and subscribers over wires. In 1934, he changed the service's name to 'Muzak'.
Asked how to say his name, he told The Literary Digest it was pronounced like the word square.
He was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution.

## Death

He died in Washington, D.C., at George Washington Hospital on March 24, 1934 of pneumonia, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

## Awards

* Distinguished Service Medal
* Spanish War Service Medal
* Philippine Campaign Medal
* World War I Victory Medal
* Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
* Commander of the Legion of Honor (France)
* Commander of the Order of the Crown of Italy

## Dates of rank

| No Insignia | Cadet, United States Military Academy: 1 July 1883 |
| No Insignia in 1886 | Second Lieutenant, Regular Army: 12 June 1887 |
| | First Lieutenant, Regular Army: 30 June 1893 |
| | Captain, Volunteer Army: 1 June 1898 (Date of rank was 20 May 1898.) |
| | Lieutenant Colonel, Volunteer Army: 20 July 1898 |
| | First Lieutenant, Regular Army: 7 December 1898 (Reverted to permanent rank.) |
| | Captain, Volunteer Army: 17 April 1899 |
| | Captain, Regular Army: 1 July 1901 (Date of rank was 2 February 1901.) |
| | Major, Regular Army: 2 March 1903 |
| | Lieutenant Colonel, Regular Army: 17 March 1913 |
| | Brigadier General, Temporary: 14 February 1917 |
| | Colonel, Regular Army: 12 April 1917 |
| | Major General, Temporary: 8 October 1917 |
| | Colonel, Regular Army: 14 February 1921 (Reverted to permanent rank.) |
| | Major General, Temporary: 28 March 1921 (Date of rank was 6 October 1917.) |
| | Major General, Retired list: 31 December 1923 |

## Legacy

In 1943, the U.S. Navy named troopship USS General G. O. Squier (AP-130) in his honor. It was the lead ship of its class, which was known as General G. O. Squier class of transport ships.
General Squier Park, a historic district and waterpark in his hometown of Dryden, Michigan, is named in his honor.

## Publications

* Crehore, Albert Cushing; George Owen Squier (1897). The Polarizing Photo-Chronograph. London: John Wiley & Sons.
* — (1908). "The Present Status of Military Aeronautics". Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution: 117. Retrieved August 7, 2009.
* — (1919). Multiplex Telephony And Telegraphy By Means Of Electric Waves Guided By Wires. Washington: Government Printing Office.