Machine gun,Machine gun inventors | edubilla.com : Weapons About Invention A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire bullets in quick succession from an ammunition belt or magazine, typically at a rate of three to eighteen hundred rounds per minute. Fully automatic weapons are generally categorized as submachine guns, machine guns, or autocannons. Submachine guns are hand-held automatic weapons for personal defense or short-range combat firing pistol-caliber rounds. A machine gun is often portable to a certain degree, but is generally used when attached to a mount or fired from the ground on a bipod or tripod, and generally fires a rifle cartridge and is capable of sustained fire. Light machine guns are small enough to be fired hand-held, but are more effective when fired from a prone position. The difference between machine guns and autocannons is based on caliber, with autocannons using calibers larger than 16 mm.,and whether the gun fires conventional bullets or explosive rounds. Guns firing large-caliber explosive rounds are generally considered either autocannons or automatic grenade launchers ("grenade machine guns").

In contrast to submachine guns and autocannons, machine guns (like rifles) tend to have a very high ratio of barrel length to caliber (a long barrel for a small caliber); indeed, a true machine gun is essentially a fully automatic rifle, and often the primary criterion for a machine gun as opposed to an automatic rifle is the presence of a quick-change barrel or other cooling system. Automatic rifles and (more commonly) assault rifles may be capable of fully automatic fire, but are not designed for sustained fire. In United States gun law, machine gun is a technical term for any fully automatic firearm, and also for any component or part that will modify an existing firearm such that it functions as a fully automatic firearm. History It would not be until the mid-19th century that successful machine-gun designs came into existence. The key characteristic of modern machine guns, their relatively high rate of fire and more importantly machine (automatic) loading, came with the Model 1862 Gatling gun, which was adopted by the United States Navy. These weapons were still powered by hand; however, this changed with Hiram Maxim's idea of harnessing recoil energy to power reloading in his Maxim machine gun. Dr.

Gatling also experimented with electric-motor-powered models; this externally powered machine reloading has seen use in modern weapons as well. The Vandenburg and Miltrailleuse volley (organ) gun concepts have been revived partially in the early 21st century in the form of electronically controlled, multibarreled volley guns. It is important to note that what exactly constitutes a machine gun, and whether volley guns are a type of machine gun, and to what extent some earlier types of devices are considered to be like machine guns, is a matter of debate in many cases and can vary depending which language and exact definition is used. Early rapid-firing weapons The first known ancestors of multi-shot weapons were early revolvers made in Europe in the late 1500s. One is a shoulder-gun-length weapon made in Nuremberg, Germany, circa 1580. Another is a revolving arquebus, produced by Hans Stopler of Nuremberg in 1597. Another large, early repeating was created by James Puckle, a London lawyer, who patented what he called "The Puckle Gun" on May 15, 1718. It was a design for a 1 in.

(25.4 mm) caliber, flintlock revolver cannon able to fire 9 rounds before reloading, intended for use on ships.According to Puckle, it was able to fire round bullets at Christians and square bullets at Turks.While ahead of its time, foreshadowing the designs of revolvers, it was not adopted or produced. In 1777, Philadelphia gunsmith Joseph Belton offered the Continental Congress a "new improved gun", which was capable of firing up to twenty shots in five seconds, automatically, and was capable of being loaded by a cartridge. Congress requested that Belton modify 100 flintlock muskets to fire eight shots in this manner, but rescinded the order when Belton's price proved too high. In the early and mid-19th century, a number of rapid-firing weapons appeared which offered multi-shot fire, and a number of semi-automatic weapons as well as volley guns. Volley guns (such as the Mitrailleuse) and double barreled pistols relied on duplicating all parts of the gun. Pepperbox pistols did away with needing multiple hammers but used multiple barrels.

Revolvers further reduced this to only needing a pre-prepared magazine using the same barrel and ignitions. However, like the Puckle gun, they were still only semiautomatic. The Agar Gun, otherwise known as a "coffee-mill gun" because of its resemblance to a coffee mill, was invented by Wilson Agar at the beginning of the US Civil War. The weapon featured automatic loading through ammunition being loaded in a hopper above the weapon. The weapon featured a single barrel and fired through the turning of a hand crank. The weapon was demonstrated to President Lincoln in 1861. He was so impressed with the weapon that he purchased 10 on the spot for $1,500 apiece. The Union Army eventually purchased a total of 54 of the weapons. However, due to antiquated views of the Ordnance Department the weapons, like its more famous counterpart the Gatling Gun, saw only limited use. The Gatling gun, patented in 1861 by Richard Jordan Gatling, was the first to offer controlled, sequential fire with automatic loading. The design's key features were machine loading of prepared cartridges and a hand-operated crank for sequential high-speed firing.

It first saw very limited action in the American Civil War; it was subsequently improved and used in the Franco-Prussian war and North-West Rebellion. Many were sold to other armies in the late 19th century and continued to be used into the early 20th century, until they were gradually supplanted by Maxim guns. Early multi-barrel guns were approximately the size and weight of contemporary artillery pieces, and were often perceived as a replacement for cannon firing grapeshot or canister shot.The large wheels required to move these guns around required a high firing position which increased the vulnerability of their crews.Sustained firing of gunpowder cartridges generated a cloud of smoke making concealment impossible until smokeless powder became available in the late 19th century.Gatling guns were targeted by artillery they could not reach and their crews were targeted by snipers they could not see.The Gatling gun was used most successfully to expand European colonial empires by killing warriors of non-industrialized societies. Gatlings were the first widely used rapid-fire guns and, due to their multiple barrels, could offer more sustained fire than the first generation of air-cooled, recoil-operated machine guns.

The weight, complexity, and resulting cost of the multibarrel design meant recoil-operated weapons, which could be made lighter and cheaper, would supplant them. Recoil-operated machine guns were light enough to be moved by one man, were easier to move through rough terrain, and could be fired from a lower, protected position. It would be another 50 years before the concept was again used to allow extremely high rates of fire, such as in miniguns, and automatic aircraft cannon. The first self-powered machine gun was invented in 1884 by Sir Hiram Maxim. The "Maxim gun" used the recoil power of the previously fired bullet to reload rather than being hand-powered, enabling a much higher rate of fire than was possible using earlier designs such as the Nordenfelt and Gatling weapons. Maxim also introduced the use of water cooling, via a water jacket around the barrel, to reduce overheating. Maxim's gun was widely adopted and derivative designs were used on all sides during the First World War. The design required fewer crew and was lighter and more usable than the Nordenfelt and Gatling guns. First World War combat experience greatly increased the importance of the machine gun.

The United States Army issued four machine guns per regiment in 1912, but that allowance increased to 336 machine guns per regiment by 1919. Heavy guns based on the Maxim such as the Vickers machine gun were joined by many other machine weapons, which mostly had their start in the early 20th century such as the Hotchkiss machine gun. Submachine guns (e.g., the German MP18) as well as lighter machine guns (the Chauchat, for example) saw their first major use in World War I, along with heavy use of large-caliber machine guns. The biggest single cause of casualties in World War I was actually artillery, but combined with wire entanglements, machine guns earned a fearsome reputation. The automatic mechanisms of machine guns were applied to handguns, giving rise to automatic pistols (and eventually machine pistols) such as the Borchardt (1890s) and later submachine guns (such as the Beretta 1918). Machine guns were mounted in aircraft for the first time in World War I.

Firing through a moving propeller was solved in a variety of ways, including the interrupter gear, metal reinforcement of the propeller, or simply avoiding the problem with wing-mounted guns or having a pusher propeller. Interwar era and World War II During the interwar years, many new designs were developed, such as the Browning M2 and the Thompson sub-machine gun, which, along with others, were used in World War II. The trend toward automatic rifles, light machine guns, and more powerful sub-machine guns resulted in a wide variety of firearms that combined characteristics of ordinary rifles and machine guns. The Cei-Rigotti (20th century), Fedorov Avtomat (1910s), AVS-36 Simonov (1930s), MP44, M2 Carbine, AK-47, and M16 have come to be known as assault rifles (after the German term sturmgewehr). Many aircraft were equipped with machine cannon, and similar cannon (nicknamed "Pom-pom guns") were used as antiaircraft weapons.

The designs of Bofors of Sweden and Oerlikon of Switzerland were widely used by both sides and have greatly influenced similar weapons developed since then. Germany developed during the interwar years the first widely used and successful general-purpose machine gun, the Maschinengewehr 34. The Maschinengewehr 42 was developed from it and was much cheaper to produce. The current GPMG of the German Army, the MG3, is a direct evolution of the MG42. Many other modern machine guns, including the US M60 and the FN MAG borrow elements of the design of the MG42. Human interface The most common interface on machine guns is a pistol grip and trigger. On earlier manual machine guns, the most common type was a hand crank. On externally powered machine guns, such as miniguns, an electronic button or trigger on a joystick is commonly used. Light machine guns often have a butt stock attached, while vehicle and tripod mounted machine guns usually have spade grips. In the late 20th century, scopes and other complex optics became more common as opposed to the more basic iron sights. Loading systems in early manual machine guns were often from a hopper of loose (un-linked) cartridges.

Manual-operated volley guns usually had to be reloaded manually all at once (each barrel reloaded by hand). With hoppers, the rounds could often be added while the weapon was firing. This gradually changed to belt-fed types. Belts were either held in the open by the person, or in a bag or box. Some modern vehicle machine guns used linkless feed systems however. Modern machine guns are commonly mounted in one of four ways. The first is a bipod – often these are integrated with the weapon. This is common on light machine guns and some medium machine guns. Another is a tripod, where the person holding it does not form a 'leg' of support. Medium and heavy machine guns usually use tripods. On ships and aircraft machine guns are usually mounted on a pintle mount – basically a steel post that is connected to the frame. Tripod and pintle mounts are usually used with spade grips. The last major mounting type is one that is disconnected from humans, as part of an armament system, such as a tank coaxial or part of aircraft's armament. These are usually electrically fired and have complex sighting systems. For examples of this, see US Helicopter Armament Subsystems. Lewis H.

Latimer, African American Inventor Lewis H. Latimer, African American Inventor By Mary Witkowski African American Heritage , Inventors Three famous inventors – Alexander Graham Bell, Hiram Maxim and Thomas Edison – owe their successes, in part, to a young, African-American inventor who lived on Bridgeport’s South End, among a rich population of Irish, African-American, Hungarian and other ethnic groups. Lewis Latimer lived on Whiting Street with his family. Listed on the 1880 census as a “mechanical draftsman,” Latimer invented and patented the carbon filament, worked closely with the three pioneers mentioned above, and opened the doors for future inventors. After serving in the Navy during the Civil War, Latimer began training as a draftsman, eventually becoming a draftsman for Alexander Graham Bell in Boston, and drawing some of the first designs for Bell’s new concept of a telephone. He left Boston in 1879 and came to Bridgeport to take a job at the U.S. Electric Lighting Company. He worked for Hiram Maxim, the firm’s chief engineer and the man credited with inventing the first portable, fully automatic machine gun, as well as the common mousetrap.

Latimer became immersed with the design and drawing of the incandescent light bulb. In fact, many believe Latimer, not Thomas Edison, to be the actual inventor of the modern light bulb. Latimer didn’t stay long in Bridgeport, and little is known about his time here. However, it is obvious it was a turning point in his career and his work here was instrumental in developing the light bulb. It’s also known that he was a member of the Bridgeport Scientific Society, which had meetings where prominent scientists and adventurers frequently spoke, and where he presented a paper. When the U.S. Electric Lighting Company moved to Brooklyn, N.Y. in 1880, Latimer moved there with his wife to continue his own research with a friend. Latimer continued his work in electric lighting, working in New York for the Edison Lighting Company and General Electric Company. Lewis and his family lived in Flushing, N.Y., where he was a founding member of the community’s Unitarian Church, a member of the veterans group Grand Army of the Republic, and pursued his life-long interest in science and the arts. Lewis Latimer’s house in Flushing is preserved as a museum. Want to learn more about Lewis H. Latimer?

The Bridgeport History Center has the following materials available: Bridgeport History Center, Newspaper clipping:Biography, Lewis Latimer Black Inventors in the Age of Segregation: Granville T. Woods, Lewis H. Latimer and Shelby Davidson, by Rayvon Bouche, 2003. Lewis Howard Latimer, by Glennette Tilley Turner, 1991 Hiram Stevens Maxim - Graces Guide Grace's Guide British Industrial History Grace's Guide is the leading source of historical information on industry and manufacturing in Britain. This web publication contains 121,949 pages of information and 183,434 images on early companies, their products and the people who designed and built them. Hiram Stevens Maxim Memorial at West Norwood Cemetery . Hiram Stevens Maxim (1840-1916) Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim (February 5, 1840 - November 24, 1916) was the inventor of the Maxim Gun in 1881, the first portable, fully automatic machine gun, and the ubiquitous mousetrap. He also experimented in powered flight, but his large aircraft designs were never successful.

However, his "Captive Flying Machine" amusement ride became a staple of British fairgrounds. Maxim is also credited with inventing the common mousetrap and, as a long-time sufferer from bronchitis, he also patented and manufactured the "Pipe of Peace", a menthol amodium inhaler. Over the years he was involved in several patent disputes with Thomas Edison. One of these included the incandescent light bulb. 1840 Hiram Maxim was born on 5 February 1840 at Brockway's Mills, near Sangerville, Maine, USA, the elder of two sons of Isaac Weston Maxim (1814–1883), the other being Hudson Maxim . His wife, Harriet Boston (1815–1901) was the daughter of Levi Stevens of Maine. His father's family were of Huguenot and his mother's of English descent. 1854 Age 14. He became an apprentice coach-builder 1864 Age 24. He took up a job at the machine works of his uncle, Levi Stephens, at Fitchburg, Massachusetts. He subsequently worked as an instrument maker and as a draughtsman.

1867 Age 27. Maxim married an English immigrant, Louisa Jane Budden (1841–1911); they had a son and two daughters. By 1873 he was senior partner in Maxim and Welch, gas and steam engineers of New York. 1878 became chief engineer to the United States Electric Lighting Company; involved in the development and construction of electricity generating machines and arc and incandescent lamps; this led to his successful development of a method of evenly coating carbon on lamp filaments by "flashing" them in hydrocarbon gas. Dispute with Edison who sued one of his employees. As a result Maxim's invention became public property in England and the United States. 1878 Age 38. Unknown to his wife, he went through an apparent form of marriage with Helen Leighton, aged fifteen: they had one daughter. 1881 Age 41. Helen learned of his marriage and contacted his wife. He agreed to leave Helen but financially support her and her child. Maxim emigrated to England.

1881 His design of "electrical pressure regulator" was displayed at the 1881 Paris Exhibition, and for which he was made a member of the Légion d'Honneur. Joined in England by Sarah Haynes (1854–1941), the attractive blonde daughter of Charles Haynes of Boston, Massachusetts. She was his secretary and mistress and, after his wife divorced him in early 1888, they married in May 1888. At some point (date uncertain) the Hiram Maxim Electrical Co was formed. 1890 Began experimenting with flight, supported by Sir Basil Zaharoff 1893 Hiram S. Maxim of Baldwyn's Park, Bexley, Kent. [1] 1894 Developed a compound steam engine which was later displayed in the London Science Museum [2] c.1894 First flight of his steam-engine powered aeroplane, weighing about 4 tons and with wing surface of 4000 sq ft [3] 1896 Age 56. The company was bought out by Vickers, Sons and Co becoming Vickers, Sons and Maxim .

1899 Age 59. Became a naturalised Briton 1901 Age 61. Queen Victoria knighted Maxim in 1901 for his inventions, many of which had military applications. 1904 MAXIM, Sir Hiram S., C.E., M.E., has conducted extensive experiments with a view to ascertaining how much power is required to propel an air-ship. Has offered a prize for a reliable air-ship. Has designed the Maxim air-ship. Furnished much valuable data as an indispensable guide to the constructor of air-ships and flying machines. Is also an enthusiastic motorist. [4] 1915 Promoted the Dayfield Body Shield made by the Whitfield Manufacturing Co of Southampton Row [5] 1916 November 24th. Age 76. He died at Streatham and was buried at West Norwood Cemetery . His son Hiram Percy Maxim (1869-1936) followed in his father and uncle's footsteps and became a mechanical engineer and weapons designer as well, but he is perhaps best known for his early amateur radio experiments and for founding the American Radio Relay League.

1917 Obituary [6] [7] Sir HIRAM STEVENS MAXIM was born at Sangersville, Maine, on 15th February 1840. His ancestors were Huguenots and came to England at the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Early in the eighteenth century they emigrated to Plymouth, Mass., and a hundred years later went to Maine. At the age of fourteen his father apprenticed him to a coach-builder, and during this period he was credited with having constructed the first tricycle built in America. Soon after this he worked at his uncle's engineering works at Fitchburg, Mass., and later was at a philosophical instrument maker's, also at a shipbuilder's. He was for a time with Mr. Oliver P. Drake, a maker of gas-machines at Boston, and while so engaged invented in 1865 a machine for making lighting gas by means of vaporized petroleum. He also perfected an automatic sprinkler, and made improvements in feed-water heaters, steam and vacuum pumps, engine governors, gas-motors, etc.

In 1878 he became chief engineer of the first electric lighting company in the United States, which was founded by Mr. S. D. Schuyler. While so engaged he invented the process of flashing carbon filament lamps in a hydrocarbon vapour, and took out patents for dynamos, lamp carbons, secondary batteries, &c. In 1881 he went to Europe to represent his firm in Paris, and while there he was made a Chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur, on account of his invention of an electric pressure-regulator. It was at that time he became interested in machine-guns, and was introduced to Mr. Albert Vickers , who at once recognized the value of the invention, which surmounted the difficulty of cartridges jamming in the barrel. The Maxim Gun Co., with Mr. Vickers as chairman, was founded in 1884, and in 1888 amalgamated with the Nordenfeldt Co. Later, these were absorbed in the Vickers firm, which then became Vickers, Sons, and Maxim.

The Maxim gun was adopted by the British Army in 1889, and by the Navy in 1892, and it has been supplied in large quantities to all the military powers of the world. When he ceased to be a director of the firm on his seventy-first birthday, in 1911, the title was again changed to Vickers Limited. It is reported that, on the suggestion of Lord Wolseley, he invented a smokeless powder, and evolved the Pom-Pom gun. The question of aviation had interested Maxim from his youth, but he never achieved successful flight. Many experiments were carried out during 1892-4 at Baldwin's Park, Kent, and the most novel features were the engines and boilers; but their weight, together with that of the feed-water and fuel, precluded their success. A Paper on this subject was read by him in 1894 at a Meeting of the British Association. The light motor, to which aeroplanes now owe their success, had not at that time been developed. One Paper he contributed to this Institution, namely on "The Maxim Automatic Machine-Gun " (Proceedings, 1885, page 167).

Honours and decorations were accorded to him in most European countries, and he received the Order of Knighthood in 1901. He had a rare genius for invention, and, while discarding failures, took great pride in his successes, which ranged over a great variety of ideas. His death took place at Streatham on 24th November 1916, in his seventy-seventh year. He was elected a Member of this Institution in 1884. 1917 Obituary [8] SIR HIRAM STEVENS MAXIM was born in Maine, U.S.A., on the 5th February, 1840. He served an apprenticeship with a firm of coach-builders, and after spending a short time in the machine works of his uncle obtained an appointment as foreman at an instrument factory at Boston, subsequently going to a firm of shipbuilders. About this time he commenced to take out a number of patents in connection with illumination by gas and for engineering and electrical apparatus. He was one of the first to appreciate the possibilities of electric lighting, and claimed to have invented in 1878 the first carbon glow lamp.

The United States Electric Lighting Company was formed about this time to take over and work his electric lighting patents, which included several systems of arc lighting. Shortly afterwards, in 1881, he turned his attention to firearms and developed the automatic gun with which his name was always associated, and a smokeless powder. In 1896 the company manufacturing this gun were taken over by Messrs. Vickers, who a year later changed their title to Messrs. Vickers, Sons & Maxim. Sir Hiram was one of the pioneers of mechanical flight in this country and in the early days his experimental machines aroused great interest. The honour of knighthood was conferred on him in 1901. He died on the 24th November, 1916. He was elected a Member of the Institution in 1898.

See Also ↑ The Times, Jun 24, 1950 ↑ The Times, Nov 28, 1936 ↑ Motoring Annual and Motorist’s Year Book 1904 ↑ The Times, Nov 05, 1915 Hiram Maxim | Military Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Hudson Maxim (brother) Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim (February 5, 1840 – November 24, 1916) was an American-born inventor who emigrated to the United Kingdom at the age of forty-one, although he remained an American citizen until he became a naturalized British subject in 1900. [1] [2] He was the inventor of the Maxim Gun – the first portable, fully automatic machine gun [3] – and held patents on mechanical devices such as a mousetrap, hair-curling irons, and steam pumps. [4] He laid claim to inventing the lightbulb , [5] and even experimented with powered flight, but his large aircraft designs were never successful.

[6] 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. [7] Contents Edit Maxim was born in Sangerville, Maine in the United States in 1840. He became an apprentice coachbuilder at the age of 14 and ten years later took up a job at the machine works of his uncle, Levi Stephens, at Fitchburg, Massachusetts. He subsequently worked as an instrument-maker and as a draughtsman. (His early jobs in these arenas led him to often be disappointed with workers when he ran his own companies later on in life.)[ citation needed ] Family Edit Maxim caricatured by Spy for Vanity Fair, 1904 His brother, Hudson Maxim , was also a military inventor, specializing in explosives . They worked quite closely together until later in life, when there was a disagreement on a patent for smokeless powder. The patent, Hiram claimed, had been issued under the name 'H. Maxim,' and that because of this, his brother was able to stake a claim as the powder being his own.

Hudson was a skilled and knowledgeable man, and sold arms in the U.S., while Hiram worked mainly in Europe. Hudson had success in the States, which caused jealousy from Hiram (he lamented having a "double" of himself running around in the States). The jealousy and disagreements caused a rift between the brothers that would last the rest of their lives. [8] Hiram Maxim married his first wife, Jane Budden, in 1867. Their children were: Hiram Percy Maxim ; Florence Maxim, who married George Albert Cutter, and Adelaide Maxim, who married Eldon Joubert, Ignacy Jan Paderewski 's piano tuner. [9] Hiram Percy Maxim followed in his father's and uncle's footsteps and became a mechanical engineer and weapons designer as well, but he is perhaps best known for his early amateur radio experiments and for founding the American Radio Relay League . His invention of the "Maxim Silencer" for noise suppression came too late to save his father's hearing.

[10] Hiram Percy would later author a biography on his father entitled A Genius in the Family, which contained about 60 anecdotes of Hiram Percy's experiences with his father throughout his early life (until about 12). Most of these short stories are incredibly amusing and captivating; they give a reader an insider's (and child's) view of this magnificently brilliant man's personal and family life—the same family he would later abandon when moving to Europe (which would become a permanent move). [11] He married his second wife, Sarah, daughter of Charles Hayes of Boston, in 1881. It is not clear if he was legally divorced from his first wife at this time. There is also a controversial case with a woman called Helen Leighton. She claimed that Maxim had married her in 1878 and that "he was knowingly committing bigamy" against his current wife, Jane Budden. In this "marriage," she claimed that Maxim had fathered a child by her (Romaine).

The case was eventually dropped, at a settlement under $1,000 (the original amount asked for was $25,000), and Maxim put the case and near public humiliation behind him. Later in life though he did leave 4,000 pounds sterling to a Romaine Dennison who may in fact have been the Romaine that Leighton claimed he had fathered. It is an unsolved mystery of Maxim's life. [12] Emigration and knighthood Edit In 1881, Maxim arrived in England in order to reorganize the London offices of the U.S. Electric Lighting Company. [13] By 1900, his visits back to the United States became infrequent and in that same year, Maxim became a naturalized British subject . In the following year, Queen Victoria bestowed a knighthood upon him.

[14] Queen Victoria died on January 22, 1901 and the actual knighting was done by Maxim's "friend and new king, Edward VII ." [8] Profession Maxim was a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour ; a Civil, Mechanical and Electrical Engineer; Member of the London Chamber of Commerce ; Member of the Royal Institution ; Member of the British Association for the Advancement of Science ; Member of the British Empire League ; and Member of the Royal Society of Arts . [15] The Maxim machine gun 1895 .303 tripod mounted Maxim machine gun . Photo: Max Smith Maxim machine gun mounted on a Dundonald gun carriage Maxim was reported to have said: "In 1882 I was in Vienna, where I met an American whom I had known in the States. He said: 'Hang your chemistry and electricity! If you want to make a pile of money, invent something that will enable these Europeans to cut each others' throats with greater facility.'" [16] As a child, Maxim had been knocked over by a rifle's recoil, and this inspired him to use that recoil force to automatically operate a gun.

Between 1883 and 1885 Maxim patented gas, recoil and blowback methods of operation. After moving to England, he settled in a large house formerly owned by Lord Thurlow in West Norwood where he developed his design for an automatic weapon, using an action that would close the breech and compress a spring, by storing the recoil energy released by a shot to prepare the gun for its next shot. He thoughtfully ran announcements in the local press warning that he would be experimenting with the gun in his garden and that neighbours should keep their windows open to avoid the danger of broken glass. [17] Maxim founded an arms company with financial backing from Edward Vickers to produce his machine gun in Crayford , Kent, which later merged with Nordenfeldt . Subsequently, part of the Barrow Shipbuilding Company purchase by Vickers Corporation in 1897, formed 'Vickers, Son & Maxim'. Their improved development of the Maxim gun design, the Vickers machine gun , after Maxim's resignation from the board in 1911 on his 71st birthday, was the standard British machine gun for many years.

With arms sales led by Basil Zaharoff , variants of the Maxim gun were bought and used extensively by both sides during World War I . In his later years Maxim became profoundly deaf, as his hearing had been damaged by years of exposure to the noise of his guns. [18] Inventions Edit Maxim, a longtime sufferer from bronchitis, patented and manufactured a pocket menthol inhaler and a larger "Pipe of Peace", a steam inhaler using pine vapor, that he claimed could relieve asthma, tinnitus, hay fever and catarrh. [19] After being criticized for applying his talents to quackery, he protested that "it will be seen that it is a very creditable thing to invent a killing machine, and nothing less than a disgrace to invent an apparatus to prevent human suffering". [16] He also invented a curling iron, an apparatus for demagnetizing watches, magno-electric machines, devices to prevent the rolling of ships, eyelet and riveting machines, aircraft artillery, an aerial torpedo gun, coffee substitutes, and various oil, steam, and gas engines. [20] A large furniture factory had repeatedly burned down, and Maxim was consulted on how to prevent a recurrence.

As a result, Maxim invented the first automatic fire sprinkler . It would douse the areas that were on fire, and it would report the fire to the fire station. Maxim was unable to sell the idea elsewhere, but when the patent expired the idea was used. [21] Maxim developed and installed the first electric lights in a New York City building (the Equitable Life Building (New York City) at 120 Broadway ) in the late 1870s. [16] However, he was involved in several lengthy patent disputes with Thomas Edison over his claims to the lightbulb . One of these actions regarded the incandescent bulb, for which Maxim claimed that Edison was credited by means of his better understanding of patenting law (though in England Joseph Wilson Swan had already obtained the first patent in 1878). Maxim claimed that an employee of his had falsely patented the invention under his own name, and that Edison proved the employee's claim to be false, knowing that patent law would mean the invention would become public property, allowing Edison to manufacture the lightbulb without crediting Maxim as the true inventor.

Flying machines Edit Maxim's flying machine Maxim's father had earlier conceived of a helicopter powered by two counter-rotating rotors, but was unable to find a powerful enough engine to build it. Hiram first sketched out plans for a helicopter in 1872, but when he built his first "flying machine" he chose to use wings. Commencing work in 1889, he built a 145 feet (44 m) long craft that weighed 3.5 tons, with a 110 feet (34 m) wingspan that was powered by two compound 360 horsepower (270 kW) steam engines driving two propellers. In trials at Bexley in 1894 his machine rode on 1,800 feet (550 m) of rails and was prevented from rising by outriggers underneath and wooden safety rails overhead, somewhat in the manner of a roller coaster. [22] His apparent goal in building this machine was not to soar freely, but to test if it would lift off the ground.

During its test run all of the outriggers were engaged, showing that it had developed enough lift to take off, but in so doing it damaged the track; the "flight" was aborted in time to prevent disaster. The craft was almost certainly aerodynamically unstable and uncontrollable, which Maxim probably realized, because he subsequently abandoned work on it. [23] Captive Flying Machines Edit The Sir Hiram Maxim Captive Flying Machines operating at Blackpool Pleasure Beach in 2006 In order to both fund his research into flight and to bring attention to the notion of flight, Maxim designed and built an amusement ride for the Earl's Court exhibition of 1904. The ride was based on a test-rig he had devised for his research, and consisted of a large spinning frame from which cars hung captive. As the machine spun, the cars would be swung outward through the air, simulating flight. The ride was similar to the later Circle Swing ride, made popular in the USA by renowned roller-coaster designer Harry Traver . Maxim originally intended to use primitive airfoils and wings to allow riders to control their flight, but this was outlawed as unsafe.

As a result, Maxim quickly lost interest in the project, declaring the adapted ride as "Simply a glorified merry-go-round". Nevertheless, his company built several more rides of various sizes at The Crystal Palace and various seaside resorts including Southport, New Brighton , and Blackpool, all of which opened in 1904. Originally, Maxim had intended to build only two, but a lengthy breakdown on the original Earl's Court ride forced him to build more in order to make the venture profitable. He had plans for further variations of the ride but his disillusionment with the amusement business meant that they were never realised. Although he expressed regrets about the whole project, the rides were held in high regard within the amusement industry and the Blackpool ride still operates to this day as part of what is now the Pleasure Beach amusement park. Along with the same park's similarly historic River Caves , it is the oldest operating amusement ride in Europe. The Flying Machines has the distinction of being virtually unchanged from Maxim's original design. The Blackpool ride's name is now usually abbreviated to the "Flying Machine" or "Flying Machines", although the full name, "Sir Hiram Maxim's Captive Flying Machines", is given at the ride entrance.

In 2001 Disney California Adventure Park opened, featuring the Golden Zephyr , a modern-day recreation of the Traver version of the ride. The ride itself is much smaller than the Blackpool version with cars swinging out at a much lesser angle. Nevertheless, engineers from Disney visited Blackpool to inspect the Maxim ride (the only example of either version still standing) in order to help design their ride. Grahame-White, Blériot, and Maxim Company Edit In 1911 Maxim headed the newly formed Grahame-White , Blériot , and Maxim Company, founded with the two aviators and two hundred thousand pounds of capital. [24] He had hoped to produce military aircraft capable of scouting or dropping a 500 lb (230 kg) bomb, but his failing health and financial difficulties with his other enterprises restricted his ability to develop this enterprise before his death. [25] Philosophy and religion Edit In addition to his civil, mechanical and electrical endeavors, Maxim "compiled and edited" a book he called Li Hung Chang's Scrapbook.

[15] This book was addressed to Li Hung Chang (also spelled Li Hongzhang and Li Hung-chang) and endeavored to address a belief that "The Chinese were generally puzzled as to how it was possible for people who are able to build locomotives and steamships to have a religion based on a belief in devils, ghosts, impossible miracles, and all the other absurdities and impossibilities peculiar to the religion taught by the missionaries" [26] Maxim held European missionaries in China in low esteem, for reasons described in the scrapbook. He stated "...it was my aim, in compiling for His Excellency a scrap-book with explanatory notes, to put the Chinaman right in this respect. I wished to show that we were not all fools." [26] His scrapbook comprised some 400 pages with 42 illustrations, presenting his views on The Nature of Christianity; Christianity in China; and his conclusions on subjects including Miracles, Spirituality, Faith; and the influence of the Bible on the civilization of Europe and America. He concluded his scrapbook with an appeal to the Missionaries and his thoughts on the reason for the failure of what he described as "Missionary Propaganda" in China.

On his religious views, Maxim was an atheist. [27] [28] Death Edit Gravestone of Sir Hiram Maxim Maxim died in London on November 24, 1916, as World War I raged on. He is buried in West Norwood Cemetery with his wife and his grandson, Lt. Colonel Maxim Joubert. Books Artificial and Natural Flight [29] Li Hung Chang's Scrapbook [15] A New System of Preventing Collisions at Sea [30] My Life. With 11 Text Illustrations and 10 Plates. [31] Monte Carlo facts and fallacies [32] Patents 5 February 1840 – Sir Hiram Maxim was born in Sangerville, Maine - YouTube 5 February 1840 – Sir Hiram Maxim was born in Sangerville, Maine Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. The interactive transcript could not be loaded. Loading... Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later.

Published on Feb 5, 2016 Today is the 5th of February and this day in 1840 the American-born inventor Sir Hiram Maxim was born in Sangerville, Maine. He spent a lot of time in England where he moved later in his life and he also got knighted and became Sir Hiram Maxim. Maxim is most known for inventing the Maxim machine gun, the first portable fully automatic machine gun and the weapon most associated with British imperialism. When invented Maxim claimed that his invention would end all wars, because nobody would want to fight each other again with such an awful weapon existing. Unfortunate that was not the case, he invented it in the 1880s and the gun was used until the late 1950s but after the First World War it was used less and less.

Recommended reading: Arthur Hawkey (2001) - The Amazing Hiram Maxim: An Intimate Biography Category The mystery of the vanishing gun inventor - BBC News BBC News The mystery of the vanishing gun inventor 16 August 2013 Image copyright Courtesy of Barry Cantelo Image caption A photograph passed down through Cantelo's family and believed to be of him William Cantelo, a 19th Century inventor rumoured to be working on an early version of the machine-gun, left his house one day and never returned. What happened to him, asks Steve Punt. In the early 1880s, the residents of Bargate Street, Southampton, were probably a bit fed up with one of their neighbours. From the cellar beneath the pub run by William Cantelo would come the sound of rapid gunfire. Cantelo, an engineer and gun-maker, was experimenting with a new type of gun. Nobody knew what it was, but it produced shots in quick succession. It was clearly not your average rifle. One day, Cantelo announced to his sons - also engineers - that he had perfected his new invention. It was a machine-gun, a weapon which used the energy of explosive recoil to load the next bullet.

It would fire continuously until the bullets ran out. It was revolutionary. About the author Cantelo and his sons packed it away into cases, and Cantelo went off, presumably to sell it. He frequently travelled on sales trips, as a successful builder of - among other things - ships' capstans, and other bits of marine engineering. William Cantelo was never seen again. Flash-forward to November 1916. As millions of Europe's young men were busy machine-gunning each other to death in World War I, the inventor of the weapon died, a very rich man and a knight of the realm. His invention had revolutionised warfare - the centuries-old infantry advance became useless, as it could be simply mown down. Consequently armies retreated into trenches while the generals worked out how on earth to fight this new kind of war. The man who had brought about this murderous step-change was quietly buried in a south London cemetery. Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Hiram Maxim (pictured) bore an uncanny resemblance to William Cantelo His large and impressive monument contains no indication of what he invented. But his name is written in large letters - Sir Hiram Maxim.

Maxim is not just credited as the inventor of the rapid-firing, belt-fed gun - it bore his name. The Maxim Gun was the weapon of choice of the late-Victorian and Edwardian era, bringing industrialised efficiency to the business of killing people. To use the phrase compulsory to all documentaries - it "changed the world forever". (Everything in TV documentaries always "changes the world forever", whether it's flush toilets or a new type of hat pin. But the machine-gun really did.) But what happened to William Cantelo? What we know of his story originates from a column in a local newspaper in the 1930s, when various witnesses were still alive. The article contains a photograph of Cantelo. And Maxim and Cantelo look uncannily similar. When Cantelo's sons saw a photo of Maxim in a newspaper, they were amazed. It was the image of their missing father. They tracked him down at Waterloo station, and shouted "father!" at him. As they told it, they tried to approach him, but his train pulled away.

Image copyright Getty Images and Barry Cantelo Image caption Hiram Maxim in 1915 and the best attested picture of William Cantelo (courtesy of Barry Cantelo) Cantelo, though, seems to have vanished off the face of the earth. His family engaged a private detective to look for him, who supposedly traced him to America - but then the trail went cold. A large sum of money was withdrawn from his bank account, but the bank in question long ago ceased to exist, and there is no record of where the money was sent or where it was withdrawn. To complicate matters, both Cantelo and Maxim had large Victorian beards. The late Victorian era was not kind to the art of facial recognition, since most males over 30 sported luxuriant facial hair and all tend to look like a cross between Charles Darwin and a stern Santa. It seems likely, however, that the newspaper photograph captioned as Cantelo is, in fact, Maxim. This doesn't, however, explain what happened to the vanishing gun-maker.

The Maxim machine gun Made by American-born British inventor Sir Hiram Maxim in 1884 First fully automatic machine gun, using energy from the recoil to eject and replace spent cartridges Much more efficient than previous guns, like the Gatling Gun, which had relied on mechanical cranking The Maxim and variants were widely used during WWI Encyclopaedia Britannica Cantelo certainly existed. He was well-known in Southampton. Gun-making ran in his family - there are numerous Cantelos, earlier in the 19th Century, who made various improvements to rifles, and at least one of them moved to America. Maxim, on the other hand, had come to Britain from America, where he had made enemies by arguing with Thomas Edison over who invented the light bulb, and generally making a nuisance of himself. Maxim also complained - in his autobiography - of a "double" who was going round the US impersonating him. Was this Cantelo? Or was it Maxim's own brother, who also looked very similar, and also sported an enormous beard? There doesn't seem to be any reason why the various witnesses should invent the tales of nocturnal gun-fire beneath the pub in Bargate Street.

Cantelo may well have been working on a machine-gun, although the type of gunpowder used at the time would have produced too much smoke to make testing in a cellar very feasible. What is really intriguing is whether Cantelo and Maxim ever met, and there is evidence to suggest that they did. The daughter of another Southampton marine engineer called Philip Branon, wrote a letter at the time telling how Maxim had come to Southampton to see a type of propeller her father had invented. He had told his staff not to show it to him, though, because Maxim - she says - had "a reputation for brain-sucking." This wonderful phrase clearly suggests a tendency to plagiarise ideas. But this is surely typical of how inventors see more successful inventors. It is, however, intriguing. It shows that Maxim did visit Southampton, and was meeting local engineers. So what did happen to William Cantelo? Did he realise he'd been pipped to the post by Maxim, and come to a bad end trying to sell his own version of the gun? Or was there some Victorian melodrama going on underneath it all, a mistress or similar entanglement, leaving his family looking for reasons to explain their father's sudden departure?

It's a mystery worthy of Sherlock Holmes. You can follow the Magazine on Twitter and on Facebook

Question: Which American-born engineer invented the first portable, fully automatic machine gun?
Answer: Hiram Stevens Maxim