He was born in Manchester (England) on 29 March 1853, but his family moved to Philadelphia in 1858.
In 1879 he established, with Edwin J. Houston, the Thomson-Houston Electric Company. In 1892 this merged with the Edison General Electric Company to become the General Electric Company.
Thomson's name is further comemorated by the British Thomson-Houston Company (BTH), and the French companies Thomson and Alstom. His early companies are also involved in the history of The General Electric Company Limited (GEC) in Britain and the Compagnie Général d'Electricité in France.
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