What is Earl Bakken?
{{Infobox person |name = Earl Bakken |image = 090707-NCVH-EarlBakken.jpg |image_size = |alt = waist-high portrait, wearing Hawaiian shirt, brown suitcoat and necklaces |birth_name = Earl Ethan Bakken |birth_date = {{Birth date|1924|1|10}} |birth_place = [[Columbia Heights, Minnesota|Columbia Heights]], [[Minnesota]], [[United States|U.S.]] |death_date = {{death date and age|2018|10|21|1924|1|10}} |death_place = [[Kona District, Hawaii|Kona District]], [[Hawaii]], U.S. |nationality = [[United States|American]] |known_for = founding [[Medtronic]], inventing the wearable portable [[artificial pacemaker|pacemaker]], founding [[Bakken Museum]] |education = |alma_mater = [[University of Minnesota]] |occupation = inventor |home_town = |spouse = |partner = |children = |parents = }} '''Earl Ethan Bakken''' (January 10, 1924 &ndash; October 21, 2018) was an [[Americans|American]] [[engineer]], [[businessman]] and [[philanthropist]]. He founded [[Medtronic]], where he developed the first external, battery-operated, transistorized, wearable [[artificial pacemaker]] in 1957.<ref>[[Hebrew University of Jerusalem]] Institute of Chemistry: [http://chem.ch.huji.ac.il/history/bakken.html Earl E. Bakken] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071205094724/http://chem.ch.huji.ac.il/history/bakken.html |date=2007-12-05 }}</ref> Bakken retired from [[Medtronic]] in 1989 and moved to a 9-acre estate in the [[Kona District, Hawaii|Kona District]] of [[Hawaii]] he calls ''Bakken Hale''.<ref name=BakkenHale>{{cite web|last1=Mykleseth|first1=Kathryn|title=Supersize solar setup underway on Big Isle|url=http://www.staradvertiser.com/business/supersize-solar-setup-underway-on-big-isle/|website=Honolulu Star Advertiser|publisher=Oahu Publications d.b.a. Staradvertiser.com|access-date=21 June 2016|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Bakken died at his Hawaii home on October 21, 2018 at the age of 94.<ref>[http://www.startribune.com/medtronic-founder-ea