Henry Lincoln Yeagley; Originated Seat Belt Concept in 1932

Henry Lincoln Yeagley, 97, a physics and astronomy professor at Pennsylvania State University who originated the concepts of automobile seat belts and crumple zones in 1932. In several national publications, Yeagley proposed the creation of seat belts in an article, “Suggested Safety Features for the Modern Automobile.” In addition to recommending the use of “straps with quick-release devices, to fasten passengers to their seats as is often done in airplanes,” he suggested lengthening the cowl space in front of passengers so that the “front end of the car crumples back 30 inches in a head-on collision as a cushion to save passengers from injury.” He also researched the first coherent theory of bird navigation, based on the effects of magnetic and vertical Coriolis forces on homing pigeons. After he left Penn State in 1958, he reorganized and chaired the department of physics and astronomy at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa., where he designed the college’s seven-telescope observatory. On Dec. 26 in State College, Pa.