Sir Hiram Maxim

Maxim.jpg Quotes:
Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim (February 5, 1840 – November 24, 1916) was an American-born inventor who emigrated to England at the age of forty-one, although he remained an American citizen until he became a naturalized British subject in 1900. He was the inventor of the Maxim Gun – the first portable, fully automatic machine gun – and the ubiquitous mousetrap. He laid a claim to inventing the lightbulb, and even experimented with powered flight, but his large aircraft designs were never successful. However, his "Captive Flying Machine" amusement ride, designed as a means by which to fund his research while generating public interest in flight, was highly successful."

-Wikipedia, Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim, Sr.

"Hiram Maxim was born in Sangersville, Maine in 1840. He became a coachbuilder in an engineering works in Fitchburg, Massachusetts and during the next few years took out several patents including those for gas appliances and electric lamps.

In 1881 Maxim, visited the Paris Electrical Exhibition. While he was at the exhibition he met a man who told him: "If you wanted to make a lot of money, invent something that will enable these Europeans to cut each other's throats with greater facility."

Maxim moved to London and over the next few years worked on producing an effective machine-gun. In 1885 he demonstrated the world's first automatic portable machine-gun to the British Army. Maxim used the energy of each bullet's recoil force to eject the spent cartridge and insert the next bullet. The Maxim Machine-Gun would therefore fire until the entire belt of bullets was used up. Trials showed that the machine-gun could fire 500 rounds per minute and therefore had the firepower of about 100 rifles." -Schoolbus.org

Definition:
Sir Hiram Maxim was born to the simple roots of a coach builder. He is credited with hundreds of common everyday inventions such as the lightbulb and the mousetrap, but also engines of war and weapons. He invented the first automatic machine-gun, and the first "amusement" ride consisting of a cart riding on rails, with more rails above it. Without these contributions, military aviation would be much slower.

Related:

 * Maxim's Flying Machine