Lester Paige Breckenridge was an engineer and inventor born in Meriden, Connecticut, on May 17, 1858. He received a Ph.B degree at Yale’s Sheffield Scientific School in 1881. From 1882 to 1891, Breckenridge was a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Lehigh University. He later taught at the Michigan Agricultural College from 1891 to 1893. Until 1909, Breckenridge was a Professor and Director of Engineering for the Experimental Station at the University of Illinois. From September 1, 1909, and onward, he was a professor at Sheffield Scientific School. In 1904, Breckenridge was also the engineer in charge of the boiler division of the United State Geological Survey fuel testing plant in St. Louis, Missouri. He was also an inventor, having created an automatic recording machine in 1901, as well as contriving and equipping dynamometers to cars in 1897 to 1899. Breckenridge was a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and Western Society of Engineers. He also wrote many articles in technical journals, reports, and bulletins.