{{Infobox person |name = Arthur Pratt Warner |image = |caption = Arthur Pratt Warner |birth_date = {{Birth date|1870|4|18}} |birth_place = [[Jacksonville, Florida]] |death_date = {{death date and age|1957|3|22|1870|4|18}} |death_place = [[Beloit, Wisconsin]] |resting_place = |other_names = |known_for = Invented the first automobile speedometer; first to fly in Wisconsin |occupation = Inventor, businessman, aviator }} {{external media | title = Warner Auto-Meter | image1 = [https://digitalcollections.detroitpubliclibrary.org/islandora/object/islandora%3A190253 Warner Auto-Meter car during the 1908 Glidden Tour] via the Detroit Public Library | image2 = [https://digitalcollections.detroitpubliclibrary.org/islandora/object/islandora%3A176927 Man painting Warner Auto-Meter billboard on truck during 1909 New York automobile carnival parade] via the Detroit Public Library | image3 = [https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_1321382 Advertising card for the Warner Auto-Meter, a combined odometer, speedometer, and clock] via the National Museum of American History }}
'''Arthur Pratt Warner''' (April 18, 1870, [[Jacksonville, Florida]] – March 22, 1957, [[Beloit, Wisconsin]]) was an American inventor, businessman and pioneer aviator. His inventions include the electric brake and, along with his brother, the automotive [[speedometer]].<ref name=HOF>{{cite web |url=http://www.wisconsinaviationhalloffame.org/inductees/warner.htm |title=Hall of Fame Inductees: Arthur P. Warner |publisher=Wisconsin Aviation Hall of Fame |accessdate=September 16, 2012}}</ref><ref name=WJS>{{cite news |title=First state flight to be commemorated in Beloit |author=Meg Jones |newspaper=[[Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel]] |date=November 3, 2009 |url=http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/69028117.html}}</ref>
He was the first American private citizen to purchase an airplane,<ref name=HOF/><ref name=Resolution37>{{cite web |url=http://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2009/related/enrolled/ajr37.pdf |title=State of Wisconsin: 2009 Assembly Joint Resolution 37 |publisher=Wisconsin Legislative Documents |accessdate=September 16, 2012}}</ref><ref name=EAA>{{cite web|url=http://www.eaa.org/news/2009/2009-10-29_centennial.asp |title=Wisconsin Celebrates Centennial of Flight |publisher=Experimental Aircraft Association |date=October 29, 2009 |accessdate=September 16, 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130224135235/http://eaa.org/news/2009/2009-10-29_centennial.asp |archivedate=February 24, 2013 }}</ref> the "first commercially built airplane".<ref name=Curtiss>{{cite web |url=http://www.cwfc.com/about_us/spokes/history2.htm |title=Curtiss-Wright Timeline |publisher=Curtiss-Wright Flow Control Company |accessdate=September 16, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120221030316/http://www.cwfc.com/About_Us/spokes/history2.htm |archive-date=February 21, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He paid [[Glenn Curtiss]] $6000 (equal to ${{Inflation|US|6000|1909|fmt=c}} today) a disassembled one.<ref name=WJS/><ref name=EAA/> Once he had assembled it (without instructions or manuals), he became the first person to fly in Wisconsin, at [[Beloit, Wisconsin|Beloit]] on November 4, 1909.<ref name=Resolution37/><ref name=EAA/> He got {{convert|50|ft|m}} off the ground and traveled a quarter mile (0.4 km).<ref name=WJS/> This also made him the eleventh American pilot.<ref name=Resolution37/>
A self-taught engineer, with his brother Charles he invented the first automobile speedometer, which made him rich.<ref name=WJS/> The Warner Instrument Co. was incorporated in 1903, with Warner as vice president and general manager.<ref name=HistSoc>{{cite web |url=http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/dictionary/index.asp?action=view&term_id=1652&search_term=warner |title=Warner, Arthur Pratt 1870 - 1957 |publisher=Wisconsin Historical Society |accessdate=September 16, 2012}}</ref> In 1912, he sold his speedometer company for $1.2 million, equal to ${{Inflation|US|1200000|1912|fmt=c}} today.<ref name=WJS/> In 1917, the Warner Manufacturing Co. came into existence, with Warner as president, to make automobile and truck trailers.<ref name=HistSoc/> Inventions that he developed in connection with this business included the electric brake and power clutch.<ref name=WJS/> He retired in 1934.<ref name=HistSoc/>
== See also == *{{section link|Odometer#Subsequent developments}} – for Warner's Auto-Meter
==References== {{Reflist}}
== Further reading == *{{Cite web |last=Clayman |first=Andrew |date=2021-02-26 |title=Stewart-Warner Corp., est. 1905 |url=http://www.madeinchicagomuseum.com/single-post/stewart-warner/ |access-date=2023-08-31 |website=Made-in-Chicago Museum |language=en-US}} *{{Cite news |last=Torchinsky |first=Jason |date=2023-08-31 |title=The Interesting Old Speedometer Story Gets Weirder: Cold Start |url=https://www.theautopian.com/the-interesting-old-speedometer-story-gets-weirder-cold-start/ |access-date=2023-08-31 |website=The Autopian |language=en-US}} *{{Cite web |title=Warner's 'Newfangled' Speedometer |url=https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS2689 |date=2007-05-17 |access-date=2023-08-31 |website=Wisconsin Historical Society |language=en}}
==External links== *[http://www.earlyaviators.com/ewarner.htm Early Aviators - A.P. Warner] *[https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/artifact/365464/ Warner Auto-Meter Speedometer, 1908] at the Henry Ford Museum
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Warner, Arthur Pratt}} [[Category:1870 births]] [[Category:1957 deaths]] [[Category:American chief executives in the manufacturing industry]] [[Category:American inventors]] [[Category:Aviators from Florida]] [[Category:Businesspeople from Florida]] [[Category:Members of the Early Birds of Aviation]] [[Category:People from Jacksonville, Florida]] [[Category:People from Beloit, Wisconsin]]