Burglar Alarm
To protect their business, homes, automobiles, and the possessions therein, owners enlist the help of burglar alarms. Functioning as a type of invisible guardian, devices to scare away thieves or alert authorities have been around since antiquity. The first modern burglar alarm was one of thousands of innovations developed at the outset of the Industrial Revolution in eighteenth-century England. The English inventor Tildesley is credited with inventing the burglar alarm. His model mechanically linked a set of bells to a door lock. When an intruder attempted to open the lock with a skeleton key or other device, the chimes would sound. The commotion caused by the ringing bells would attract attention and cause the intruder to flee. Similar alarms were developed in the American colonies around this time.
The next major innovation in the burglar alarm was the addition of electricity. In the 1850s, Boston inventor Augustus Pope linked his alarm bells to the point of contact (usually a door or window) by wires carrying electricity. In addition, Pope used magnets to form contact points. When an intruder opened a door or window the magnetic contacts would close, forming an electrical circuit. The closed circuit sent electricity to the bells, which sounded the alarm.
Pope sold his patented invention to Edwin Holmes in 1857. Holmes eventually took his business to New York City in search of a larger market for his product. Many potential customers misunderstood electricity and therefore were skeptical of the burglar alarm. The electrification of city lights in 1880 relieved doubts and gave birth to numerous new alarm companies.
The invention of the telegraph and telephone gave birth to a new function for burglar alarms. In addition to sounding bells to chase away intruders, alarms could be used to call for help. Consequently, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) bought Holmes's burglar alarm business in 1905. Burglar alarms and fire alarms essentially merged at this time, becoming emergency call systems that were linked directly to police and fire stations.
World War II brought further innovations, such as alarms that would sound and call the police automatically. This around-the-clock protection was made available to homeowners and businesses after the war. As burglar alarm technology became less expensive and more versatile in the 1970s and 80s, it found wider application. For example, by the mid-1990s, the alarms became virtually a standard feature of automobiles. Burglar alarms have also continued to adopt military technology. Although the electric contact systems of the past are still used, most advanced burglar alarms now rely heavily on motion detectors, surveillance equipment, and electronic tracking devices.
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