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Hiram Maxim was born February 4th, 1840. He was born in the town Sangersville in May. No one could have expected the life that payed before him.
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Hudson Maxim (born February 3, 1853 – May 6, 1927), was a U.S. inventor and chemist who invented a variety of explosives. He invented smokeless gunpowder. Thomas Edison referred to him as "the most versatile man in America.”
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At the age of 14 Maxim was apprenticed to a carriage builder. He later started to work in his uncle's engineering firm. His uncle's engineering firm was located in Fitchburg, Massachusetts.
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While Hiram Maxim was working on a farm he invented a way to prevent mice from getting in the barns. He invented what we now call the mouse trap. You may take it for granted but if nobody thought of it nice could be infecting tons of buildings all over the world.
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Maxim moved to Boston where he was employed in a scientific instrument shop in 1866. During which time he received his first patent. The patent may be small but it started a big life, the patent was for an improved curling iron.
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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.
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In 1868 Maxim became a draftsman with a New York shipbuilding firm. Maxim invented many items here, including a locomotive headlight. This headlight quickly came into common use.
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Hiram Percy Maxim, Hiram Maxim's son was born September 2, 1869. Hiram Percy Maxim (September 2, 1869 – February 17, 1936) was an American radio pioneer and inventor, and co-founder (with Clarence D. Tuska) of the American Radio Relay League (ARRL). He originally had the amateur call signs SNY, 1WH, 1ZM, (after World War I) 1AW, and later W1AW, which is now the ARRL Headquarters club station call sign.
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In 1878 he was appointed chief engineer of the first electric lighting company in the United States. Maxim soon produced a new type of filament for an incandescent light. This was called the Maxim Lamp. Seems to me like he couldn't come up with any creative names so he decided to name everything after himself.
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Hiram Maxim developed and installed the first electric lights in a New York City building. This was the the Equitable Life Building. It may seem common to have lights everywhere nowadays but back then this was a huge deal.
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The lightbulb was invented. Obviously there is debate and Edison was credited with the invention but there is speculation that that Maxim invented it. In 1879 the lightbulb was invented and if Hiram Maxim invented it I want to credit it for him.
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Hiram Maxims first major contributions to science were on lamp subjects. The first was when heinvented the graphite-rod incandescent light bulb in 1878. The second was when he invented a standardized coating of carbon lamp filaments in 1880.
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Hiram Maxim moved to the U.K. He moved here at the age of 41. He went on to have a total of 271 patents, 149 British patents and 122 American patents.
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Maxim represented the electric lighting company at the Paris Exposition of 1881. While here he was honored with yet another invention. His electric pressure regulator.
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In 1882, by his own account, Maxim was in Europe when another American he met there told him a famous quote. “Hang your chemistry and electricity! If you want to make a pile of money, invent something that will enable these Europeans to cut each other's throats with greater facility.” And he certainly did that.
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Hiram Maxim invented the first effective machine gun in 1883. He patented it in 1884 under the name: Maxim Gun. Hiram had had trouble in the past with claiming ownership to his own inventions since he was not accostumed to the system of getting patents yet. Thomas Edison and him discovered the lightbulb but since Thomas Edison patented it first he receives all the credit which just isn't fair.
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The Maxim Gun Company was founded in 1884. This was the same year Maxim patented the invention. Since there was such a high demand for Maxim Guns almost instantly the company was quickly set on its feet.
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Maxim began his aerial experiments at Baldwyns Park, Englang. These took place during the Mid 1880's which lead to the construction of his enormous biplane. It weighed about 7,000 pounds and had a wingspan of 105 ft.
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At first Maxim produced the gun himself. In order to quickly produce a gun that fired 666 rounds a minute his company merged. The Maxim Gun company merged with the Nordenfedt company in 1888.
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Hiram Maxim invented a smokeless cartridge. This further improved the effectiveness of his machine gun. There is debate over whether he or his brother invented the smokeless cartridge.
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The Maxim Gun was initially used to help build colonial empires. However, the Maxim Gun did its first mass slaughtering in the year 1893. This was after almost a decade after the gun`s invention.
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An airship Hiram Maxim built in 1894 to study the lift and thrust of various wing shapes and propellers actually rose from the ground. Sadly Maxim had not developed methods for controlling his machine in the air and did not achieve manned flight. He had, however, using an incredibly heavy, steam-propelled machine, proved that mechanical flight in machines heavier than air was possible.
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would not jam from hasty operation by its handler. The Maxim Gun company merged with Vickers in 1896. By this time The Maxim Gun was adopted for use by armies all over the world. This was because it would not jam from hasty operation by its handler.
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The poem the modern traveller was written. It was written by the poet Hilliard Belloc. It was about the Maxim Gun and how influential it really was.
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On Sept. 2, 1898, the Maxim fought its first major battle. Sir Herbert Kitchener (assisted by a young Winston Churchill) met an army of Muslim fundamentalists at Omdurman on the Nile. The British killed or wounded more than 20,000 of the enemy while sustaining only light casualties of their own.
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Hiram Maxim had 18 patents dealing with a Lamp subject. These patents consisted of lamp designs of incandescent and arc lamps as well as manufacturing methods. At the time of application of his last patent that dealt with a lamp subject which was January 5, 1899, Maxim was still technically a citizen of the United States but he resided at 18 Queens Gate Place, London, in the County of Middlesex, England.
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Hiram Maxim became a naturalized British Subject in 1900. He had taken up residence there since 1881. Maxim was even knighted by Queen Victoria in 1901.
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Maxim wrote about his aeronautical work in a book. You can read his book Artificial and Natural Flight about it. It was published in 1908.
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Hiram Percy Maxim is noted as the inventor of the "Maxim Silencer", a silencer for firearms. It was patented in 1908. He also invented a silencer or muffler for gasoline engines the same year. Naming things after Maxim seems to run in the family.
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Hiram suffered from bronchitis for the last 16 years of his life. This led him to his last significant invention. An early model of the modern day inhaler which he dubbed the “Pipe of Peace”. Patented in 1909.
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Hiram Maxim invented another gun. This was the Mg11. He invented with Wiffenfabrik Bern, also known as W+F Bern, which was an arms manufacturer in Bern, Switzerland and was a government-owned corporation
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Since there are no completely accurate accounts of Maxim's life facts on him are limited. The only truthful piece of literature was published in 1915 by Maxim himself. His book was titled "My Life".
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Hiram Maxim sadly passed away on November 24, 1916 in London, England. He lived to a pretty old age of 76. At the time the life expectancy of a male was only around 50 so he lived a good 25 more years than was granted of him. He now rests at West Norwood Cemetery.
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Hiram Percy Maxim wrote the book, A Genius in the Family: Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim through a Small Son's Eyes. It was published in 1936. This book is about Hiram Percy Maxim's early life and perspective of his dad.
