Gillespie, Rollin W.

Gillespie was born on a farm at Willard, Missouri, April 7, 1909. He was graduated Magna Cum Laude in Chemistry from Drury College, Springfield, Missouri, in1931. He taught Chemistry as a half time graduate student assistant for two years at Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri. In 1932, he invented, on paper, a helicopter with wing tip rocket propulsion. After visiting the patent office in Washington, he discovered that such a device had received a U.S. patent in 1871.

In 1933-34 Gillespie worked for the Western Cartridge Company in East Alton Illinois. As a research chemist, he developed the method of controlling crystal size in lead azide, thereby eliminating spontaneous detonation. This was later used in the manufacture of nearly all the explosive priming compositions in World War II. He also refined the purity and yield of tetracene, also used in primers.

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2016-08-13 11:08:45 am

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2016-08-13 11:08:45 am

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