Thompson was born on December 24, 1890, in Osnabrock Township, Cavalier County, North Dakota.
He served in the U.S. Signal Corps in France, working with aircraft detection and airplane machine gun technology from 1917 to 1918.
[11] He was awarded a total of 23 patents[12] assigned to the Philco Radio and Television corporation in various areas related to phonographs.
[15] After Thompson's death, Achilles gave the remainder of his glass plates to Gordon Gronhovd, who took them back to North Dakota.
[16] His obituary lists survivors as: stepson, John Anderson, Bethlehem, Pa.; stepdaughter Eileen Achilles, Staten Island, New York; one grandchild; one great-grandchild.