George Eastman invented the first Kodak camera, helping make photography accessible to the public

Geroge Eastman's inventions made cameras smaller and cheaper. He came up with the name Kodak. His company was renamed as Eastman Kodak, with the slogan "You press the button, we do the rest,"

Hyderabad: Remembering Geroge Eastman on his birthday, July 12. He invented the first Kodak Camera.

“What we do during our working hours determines what we have; what we do in our leisure hours determines what we are," George Eastman.

Facts about George Eastman

Facts about George Eastman

He was named after his father George Washington Eastman, George Eastman. When his father died, Eastman was 8 and in order to support his family, he dropped out of school and started to work as a messenger and office boy for insurance companies. He eventually started to work as a bookkeeper at the Rochester Savings Bank.

Eastman Museum tweeted a video about his Lemon Meringue Pie recipe on his birthday.

• Celebrate George Eastman's birthday this Sunday, July 12, by making his Lemon Meringue Pie recipe! For the full video and recipe, visit https://t.co/kfoybeVPuC pic.twitter.com/GVKfWImx01

  — EastmanMuseum (@EastmanMuseum) July 11, 2020 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="

  Celebrate George Eastman's birthday this Sunday, July 12, by making his Lemon Meringue Pie recipe! For the full video and recipe, visit https://t.co/kfoybeVPuC pic.twitter.com/GVKfWImx01

  — EastmanMuseum (@EastmanMuseum) July 11, 2020

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  Celebrate George Eastman's birthday this Sunday, July 12, by making his Lemon Meringue Pie recipe! For the full video and recipe, visit https://t.co/kfoybeVPuC pic.twitter.com/GVKfWImx01

  — EastmanMuseum (@EastmanMuseum) July 11, 2020

When Eastman was 24, he planned to visit Santo Domingo and, on the advice of a colleague, decided to document the trip. However, he found the photography equipment was enormous, heavy, and costly, so he started to research on how to make photography cost-effective and easier for the average person.

After seeing a formula for a "dry plate" emulsion in a British publication, and getting tutelage from two local amateur photographers, Eastman formulated a gelatin-based paper film and a device for coating dry plates.

He resigned from his bank job after launching his fledgling photography company in April 1880. In 1885, he headed to the patent office with a roll-holder device that he and the camera inventor William Hall Walker had developed.

With this, cameras became smaller and cheaper. Eastman also came up with the name Kodak, because he believed products should have their own identity, free from association with anything else. So the company became Eastman Kodak, with the slogan "You press the button, we do the rest,"

In 1889, Eastman hired chemist Henry Reichenbach to develop a type of flexible film that could be more easily inserted into cameras. Thomas Edison adapted the film for use in the motion-picture camera he was developing, further propelling the success of Eastman's company.

Eastman's approach was of a philanthropist. In 1919, he added stock options. He gave support to the struggling Mechanics Institute of Rochester, which became the Rochester Institute of Technology, as well as M.I.T. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). His contribution to the education and health sectors are also known. He supported the University of Rochester, Hampton, and Tuskegee institutes. Dental clinics both in Rochester and in Europe were also a focus of his concern.

In all, it is estimated that Eastman contributed more than $100 million of his wealth for philanthropic purposes during his lifetime.

On March 14, 1932, at age 77, he took his own life with a single gunshot to the heart. A note he left said, "My work is done. Why wait?"