Jack Cover
| John Higson Cover, Jr. | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
John Higson Cover April 6, 1920 New York City |
| Died | February 7, 2009 (aged 88) Mission Viejo, California |
| Residence | San Clemente |
| Other names | Jack Cover |
| Known for | Taser inventor |
| Spouse(s) | Ginny |
| Children | 4 |
John "Jack" Higson Cover, Jr. (April 6, 1920 – February 7, 2009) was the inventor of the Taser stun gun.
Cover was born in New York City on April 6, 1920, and grew up in Chicago. His father was a professor of economics. His mother earned a mathematics master's degree at the University of Chicago (U of C). Cover earned a bachelor's degree and a doctorate in nuclear physics at U of C, studying under Enrico Fermi. During World War II, he was an Army Air Force test pilot. He later worked at the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake. He was a scientist at North American Aviation from 1952 until 1964 and also worked for NASA (Apollo program), IBM and Hughes Aircraft.
In 1970, he formed Taser Systems, Inc., named for a Tom Swift novel about the Thomas A. Swift's Electric Rifle. Because the Taser used gunpowder to launch the darts, the federal government considered it a firearm, a classification that ruled out a civilian market and also discouraged police and military sales.
Cover was married three times, the first two ended in divorce. His last marriage was to Ginny. He had four children, a son and three daughters. He had Alzheimer's disease, and died of pneumonia on February 7, 2009 at the Golden West Retirement Homer in Mission Viejo, California.
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