Yale, Linus << LY nuhs >> Jr. (1821-1868), an American inventor and manufacturer, developed key locks and combination locks whose methods of operation are used in today’s locks. He specialized in bank locks and won fame as an authority on these devices by picking the “unpickable” locks of rival manufacturers. In 1861, he patented a pin-tumbler cylinder lock, one of the most secure key-operated locks ever invented. This lock was among the first to be mass-produced. In 1868, Yale and two partners founded Yale Lock Manufacturing Company in Stamford, Connecticut. Yale was born on April 4, 1821, in Salisbury, New York. He died on Dec. 25, 1868.
