Harry L. Straus
Encyclopedia
Harry L. Straus, born Henry Lobe Straus, (March 10, 1896 - October 25, 1949) was an American
electrical engineer, horse and cattle breeder, sportsman, entrepreneur and computer pioneer. Straus was a 1913 graduate of the Baltimore City College
high school and a graduate electrical engineer of Johns Hopkins University
.
On April 26, 1927, Harry Straus was at a racetrack in Havre de Grace, Maryland
. He had bet $10 on a horse showing twelve-to-one odds. The horse won, and Straus expected to collect about $120. However, the final odds, announced 10 minutes after the race, were less than four-to-one, and he collected only $36. Disappointed, Straus decided to do something about it. A machine for calculating parimutuel
odds, issuing tickets, and showing payouts on horse races was called a totalisator; George Julius
had invented a mechanical version that was first used in New Zealand
in 1913. Straus devised an "electromechanical totalisator".
Straus received help from General Electric
's Remote Control Division, who supplied the electric relays and rotary switches to compute odds. After he struggled for several years to market his invention and compete with electric totalisators used in Britain
, Pimlico Race Course
installed a partial system in 1930, and Arlington Park
racecourse, Chicago, Illinois, installed the United States
' first complete all-electric totalisator, from Straus's company, in 1933.
A rival machine maker approached Straus and proposed a collaboration. The resulting company, the American Totalisator Company of Baltimore
, dominated the parimutuel betting market for years. Harry Straus grew wealthy as his all electric totalisator became a near-universal fixture in racetracks in Europe and North America.
By the 1946, Straus had begun to experiment with an all-electronic calculating system for the totalisator. Then, in 1948, he learned of the work that John W. Mauchly and Presper Eckert were doing with the EDVAC
and BINAC
computers. Straus became convinced that electronic computers had enormous potential for a range of applications, including applications in the race track business.
In 1948, Straus convinced the directors of American Totalisator to invest $500,000 to shore up the financially troubled Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation
which was then developing UNIVAC
, the first electronic digital computer designed for commercial use. American Totalisator received 40 percent of the EMCC stock, Straus became chairman of the EMCC board and was active in the business side of operations. Within a year, EMCC was a healthy corporation with contracts for UNIVACs worth $1.2 million.
On October 25, 1949, Harry Straus was killed in a plane crash, and soon after the American Totalisator's directors withdrew their support from EMCC. Eckert and Mauchly were forced to look for a buyer, and sold their company to Remington Rand
in 1950.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
electrical engineer, horse and cattle breeder, sportsman, entrepreneur and computer pioneer. Straus was a 1913 graduate of the Baltimore City College
Baltimore City College
The Baltimore City College , also referred to as The Castle on the Hill, historically as The College, and most commonly City, is a public high school in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. The City College curriculum includes the International Baccalaureate Programme and emphasizes study in the classics...
high school and a graduate electrical engineer of Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
.
On April 26, 1927, Harry Straus was at a racetrack in Havre de Grace, Maryland
Havre de Grace, Maryland
Havre de Grace is a city in Harford County, Maryland, United States. Located at the mouth of the Susquehanna River and the head of the Chesapeake Bay, Havre de Grace is named after the port city of Le Havre, France, which was first named Le Havre de Grâce, meaning in French "Harbor of Grace." As...
. He had bet $10 on a horse showing twelve-to-one odds. The horse won, and Straus expected to collect about $120. However, the final odds, announced 10 minutes after the race, were less than four-to-one, and he collected only $36. Disappointed, Straus decided to do something about it. A machine for calculating parimutuel
Parimutuel betting
Parimutuel betting is a betting system in which all bets of a particular type are placed together in a pool; taxes and the "house-take" or "vig" is removed, and payoff odds are calculated by sharing the pool among all winning bets...
odds, issuing tickets, and showing payouts on horse races was called a totalisator; George Julius
George Julius
Sir George Alfred Julius was the founder of Julius Poole & Gibson Pty Ltd and Automatic Totalisators Ltd, and invented the world's first automatic totalisator.-Early years:...
had invented a mechanical version that was first used in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
in 1913. Straus devised an "electromechanical totalisator".
Straus received help from General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
's Remote Control Division, who supplied the electric relays and rotary switches to compute odds. After he struggled for several years to market his invention and compete with electric totalisators used in Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Pimlico Race Course
Pimlico Race Course
Pimlico Race Course is a horse racetrack in Baltimore, Maryland, most famous for hosting the Preakness Stakes. Its name is derived from the 1660s when English settlers named the area where the facility currently stands in honor of Olde Ben Pimlico's Tavern in London...
installed a partial system in 1930, and Arlington Park
Arlington Park
Arlington Park is a horse race track in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, Illinois. Horse racing in the Chicago region has been a popular sport since the early days of the city in the 1830s, and at one time Chicago had more horse racing tracks than any other major metropolitan area...
racecourse, Chicago, Illinois, installed the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
' first complete all-electric totalisator, from Straus's company, in 1933.
A rival machine maker approached Straus and proposed a collaboration. The resulting company, the American Totalisator Company of Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, dominated the parimutuel betting market for years. Harry Straus grew wealthy as his all electric totalisator became a near-universal fixture in racetracks in Europe and North America.
By the 1946, Straus had begun to experiment with an all-electronic calculating system for the totalisator. Then, in 1948, he learned of the work that John W. Mauchly and Presper Eckert were doing with the EDVAC
EDVAC
EDVAC was one of the earliest electronic computers. Unlike its predecessor the ENIAC, it was binary rather than decimal, and was a stored program computer....
and BINAC
BINAC
BINAC, the Binary Automatic Computer, was an early electronic computer designed for Northrop Aircraft Company by the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation in 1949. Eckert and Mauchly, though they had started the design of EDVAC at the University of Pennsylvania, chose to leave and start EMCC, the...
computers. Straus became convinced that electronic computers had enormous potential for a range of applications, including applications in the race track business.
In 1948, Straus convinced the directors of American Totalisator to invest $500,000 to shore up the financially troubled Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation
Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation
The Eckert–Mauchly Computer Corporation was founded by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly, and was incorporated on December 22, 1947. After building the ENIAC at the University of Pennsylvania, Eckert and Mauchly formed EMCC to build new computer designs for commercial and military applications...
which was then developing UNIVAC
UNIVAC I
The UNIVAC I was the first commercial computer produced in the United States. It was designed principally by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly, the inventors of the ENIAC...
, the first electronic digital computer designed for commercial use. American Totalisator received 40 percent of the EMCC stock, Straus became chairman of the EMCC board and was active in the business side of operations. Within a year, EMCC was a healthy corporation with contracts for UNIVACs worth $1.2 million.
On October 25, 1949, Harry Straus was killed in a plane crash, and soon after the American Totalisator's directors withdrew their support from EMCC. Eckert and Mauchly were forced to look for a buyer, and sold their company to Remington Rand
Remington Rand
Remington Rand was an early American business machines manufacturer, best known originally as a typewriter manufacturer and in a later incarnation as the manufacturer of the UNIVAC line of mainframe computers but with antecedents in Remington Arms in the early nineteenth century. For a time, the...
in 1950.
External links
- Article in Johns Hopkins Magazine (June 2000) http://www.jhu.edu/~jhumag/0600web/letters.html#racetrack