Lewis Urry

Lore & Background

Lewis Urry was born on January 29, 1927, in Pontypool, Ontario. He served in the Canadian army before earning a degree in chemical engineering from the University of Toronto in 1950. A few months after graduating, he began working for Eveready Battery. He married Beverley Ann, who died in 1993, and they had three sons and two daughters. Urry died on October 19, 2004, and is buried in Butternut Ridge Cemetery in Eaton Township, Ohio.

In 1955, Urry was sent to Eveready's laboratory in Parma, Ohio, to find a way to extend the lifespan of zinc-carbon batteries, whose poor longevity was hurting sales. He concluded that developing a new battery would be more cost-effective than improving the old one. After testing various materials, he discovered that manganese dioxide and solid zinc worked well with an alkaline electrolyte, but the battery initially lacked power. He solved this by using powdered zinc.

On October 9, 1957, Urry, Karl Kordesch, and P.A. Marsal filed a patent for the alkaline dry cell battery with a powdered zinc gel anode, granted on November 15, 1960, and assigned to Union Carbide Corporation. To convince his managers, Urry placed the battery in a toy car and raced it against a similar car with an older battery; his invention lasted many times longer. Eveready began production in 1959. In 1999, Urry donated his first prototype to the Smithsonian Institution, where it is displayed near Edison's light bulb.

Reader's Guide

Lewis Urry's invention of the alkaline battery in the late 1950s fundamentally changed consumer electronics by providing a much longer-lasting power source than the zinc-carbon batteries then in use. His prototype, demonstrated by racing a toy car, proved so durable that Eveready began production in 1959. The brand was renamed Energizer in 1980, and modern alkaline batteries can last up to 40 times longer than Urry's original prototype. Urry also invented the lithium battery, further extending his impact on portable energy storage. His work is recognized by the Smithsonian Institution, which displays his first prototype and the first commercial cylindrical battery alongside Thomas Edison's light bulb. Urry's innovations addressed a critical market need—poor battery longevity—and laid the foundation for the ubiquitous alkaline batteries used today in everything from remote controls to medical devices. His legacy endures in the continued reliance on alkaline and lithium battery technology.

Did You Know?

• Lewis Urry invented the alkaline battery while working for Eveready Battery.
• He demonstrated his alkaline battery by racing a toy car against one with an older battery in the company canteen.
• Urry's first prototype battery is displayed at the Smithsonian Institution near Edison's light bulb.
• Modern alkaline batteries can last as much as 40 times longer than Urry's original prototype.