Sir Hiram Maxim

Sir Hiram Maxim

Biography

Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim was a prominent American-born British inventor who created a number of devices, and owned a multitude of patents. He is predominately known for inventing the Maxim Machine Gun, the first easily portable fully automatic weapon. Today, Maxim is recognized for his ingenuity; an inventor who fully revolutionized a multitude of different fields.

Hiram Maxim was born February 5th, 1840, in Sangersville, Maine. He was raised by his poor father, who owned a sheep farm. Tending sheep thru his childhood, Maxim's only schooling came from five years spent within a one-room schoolhouse. There he learned basic skills, such as reading and writing. Eventually at the age of 14, he was apprenticed to a carriage maker. Working within a mouse infected mill, Maxim showed his first sign of ingenuity when he developed the automated mouse trap; a design that is still used today.

Following his service as an apprentice, he began to jump from job to job in search of places where he could apply his inventive mind. During the process he created the silicate blackboard, and was able to successfully patent his first invention in 1866: the hair-curling iron. His iron was followed by a device for generating illuminating gas and locomotive headlights. From his impressive experience, he was eventually hired as the chief engineer of the United States Electric Lighting Company, the first such company in the United States. In his position he created a method of manufacturing carbon filaments.

In 1881, he exhibited an electric pressure regulator at the Paris Exposition. Maxim represented the electric lighting company, and was decorated by the French Government for his work with electricity and the invention of the electric pressure regulator. While at the convention, a man told Maxim that if he wanted to make a fortune, he should invent a machine that would help the Europeans kill one another. Wanting to make a profit, the suggestion stood with him.

In that same year, he moved to England to represent the United States Electric Lighting Company to an English audience. Taking with him the advice that was given to him by the stranger, he began to take interest in weaponry, till eventually he started development of the machine gun. Eventually in 1884, he revealed the Maxim Machine Gun.

A successor to Richard Jordan Gatling and his Gatling Gun, Maxim's machine gun differentiated in a few crucial ways. Where the Gating gun operated with ten barrels and a maximum fire rate of 1200, the weapon was fired via a manual cranking mechanism. Maxim's weapon differed in that it aimed to harness the recoil power of each bullet, a force strong enough to eject the used cartridge and draw in another. Thus, the Maxim's design required only one barrel to fire all of its bullets automatically, without the need to "crank" the weapon. He also developed his own smokeless power, cordite, to not cause smog when firing. Additionally, the Maxim Machine Gun far more mobile then its the Gatling gun.

In 1884, he founded the Maxim Gun Company in Britain to produce his new weapon. After creating his company, he began market his weapon as a gun that fired by itself with the simple touch of a button. It was rebuked, and labeled incredulous. When Maxim offered his services to the U.S. War Department, they refused; they deemed it unworthy by U.S. military standards. This led Maxim to demonstrate the weapon to the British, particularly to the English Royalty. The weapon turned to be a success in the eyes of the English, and the weapon was ordered for Her Majesty's Royal Forces. The Maxim Gun Co. was quickly formed, and eventually merged with Nordenfelt Guns and Ammunition Co. of England.

Maxim successfully sold his weapon to the armed forces of the British Empire, although there were many in the army of the high command who, although were astounded by the invention, could not foresee the uses it would later have during WWI. Predominately, it was used to scare and impress other factions; notably, it was used for this purpose in the Matabele War of 1893-94. Eventually other nations within Europe expressed interest in buying the machine gun, including Germany. Later, his company was again absorbed into Victors Ltd., of which he became the director. The Vickers machine gun became the standard issue weapon of its type in the British army during the First World War.

Throughout his career, Maxim received 122 United States patents and 149 British patents. He devoted much of his time and energy into the development of aeronautical experiment. An airship he built in 1894 to study lift and thrust of various wing shapes and propellers rose from the ground, but in the process he did not develop a method on controlling the craft. However, he did use an incredibly heavy, steam-propelled machine, proving that mechanical fight with heavy machinery was possible.

Despite failing to develop the airplane, he used its design to instead produce an amusement ride: the Captive Flying machine. The ride proved to be immensely popular in British fairgrounds, and was a commercial success. Later on went to be knighted by Queen Victoria in 1900, confirming him as a royal subject. However, years later on November 24th, 1916, Hiram Maxim passed away; it was only days befroe the Battle of the Somme, where over one million soldiers in four months died to Maxim's creations.

Historically, Hiram Maxim was an inventor and engineer that had changed the art of war; for the development of the machine gun had pivoted human understanding of warfare. And although he is most known for creating the first machine gun grace the battlefield, his career as an inventor led to the development of many products that consumers know today. Thus, he is a key figure in the study of technology history; his inventions heavily affecting a large spectrum of people.