Edwin H. Land

AKA:
Dr. Land
Birth Name:
Edwin Herbert Land
Birth Date:
May 7, 1909
Birth Place:
Bridgeport, Connecticut
Death Date:
March 1, 1991
Place of Death:
Prospect Hill, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Age:
81
Cause of Death:
Undisclosed
Cemetery Name:
Mount Auburn Cemetery
Claim to Fame:
Science
Edwin H. Land was an American scientist and inventor, best known as the co-founder of the Polaroid Corporation and the inventor of instant photography. “Dr. Land,’’ as most people referred to him, left Harvard College before graduation to start inventing in a Cambridge garage. In 40 years, Land built up a company that did about $1.4 billion of business all over the world in 1979 with over 20,000 employees. He stuck to his guns, never diversified into other businesses, never sold out to another company, and never borrowed money on a long-term basis. Land was awarded more than 500 patents, and other Polaroid researchers hundreds more. The Polaroid company was a juggernaut of innovation. In modern terms, Polaroid was the Apple of its time with a brilliant leader in Edwin Land, a scientist who guided the company as the CEO for several decades. But the company suffered a long decline starting in the ’80s leading to bankruptcy in the 2000s.

Fun Fact

When Edwin died on March 1, 1991 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, upon his specific instructions his trusted personal assistant destroyed all his personal papers and his notes. Oddly enough shortly after his death his historic Cambridge mansion burned to the ground.

Cemetery Information:

Final Resting Place:

Mount Auburn Cemetery

580 Mount Auburn Street

Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02138

USA

North America

Map:

Map of Mount Auburn Cemetery in Boston, Massachusetts
Map of Mount Auburn Cemetery in Boston, Massachusetts

Grave Location:

Aronia Path, Lot 10123, Space 1

Grave Location Description

The the intersection of Pond Road, Bradlee Road, Willow Pond Path and Aronia Path take a short walk up Aronia Path just past the Butternut Path and look to your right and you will see the final resting place of the brilliant Dr. Land and his wife about 50 feet from the path.

Grave Location GPS

42.36758888, -71.14714891

Photos:

[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]

Read More About Edwin H. Land:

Videos Featuring Edwin H. Land:

See More:

Charles Pigeon

popular name: Charles Pigeon

date_of_death: March 18, 1915

age: 76

cause_of_death: Natural causes

claim_to_fame: Science

best_know_for: Charles-Joseph Pigeon started as a salesman in department store Le Bon Marché in Paris, where he became a close friend of Ernest Cognacq. Together they became partners and co-founders of the Samaritaine department stores. Pigeon became a dealer in cycle lamps, mining lamps and other combustible lamps. On June 9, 1884 he obtained a patent for his new lamp, the Pigeon lamp, a non-exploding gasoline lamp. He began to design, manufacture and sell his new invention across Europe and later that year he exhibited his Pigeon Lamps at the Exposition universelle de 1900) which subsequently made him famous and very, very wealthy.

Dr. Henry Murray

popular name: Dr. Henry Murray

date_of_death: June 23, 1988

age: 95

cause_of_death: Pneumonia

claim_to_fame: Science

best_know_for: As the Director and Chief Researcher of the Psychological Clinic Annex on the campus of Harvard University, for 3 years beginning in 1959 Dr. Henry Murray was responsible for the unethical, immoral and horrible experiments in which he used 22 Harvard undergraduates as research subjects in psychological torture. The unwitting undergraduates were submitted to what Murray called "vehement, sweeping and personally abusive" attacks while strapped into a wooden chair with electrodes attached to their bodies. One of the subjects for the entire 3-year period was Ted Kaczynski, later known as the Unabomber who was responsible for killing 3 and maiming 23 other victims through his series of mail bombs.

Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon

popular name: Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon

date_of_death: April 16, 1788

age: 80

cause_of_death: Unkown

claim_to_fame: Science

best_know_for: Comte de Buffon was a French naturalist, mathematician, cosmologist, and encyclopédiste whose collective works influenced generations of naturalists including Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and Georges Cuvier. He was considered by many to be the Father of all Thought in the field of natural history in the 18th century.

Back to Top