biography
| name: |
Maxim, Sir Hiram (Stevens)
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1840–1916)
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| biography:
| Inventor and engineer, born in Sangerville, Maine, USA. He became a coachbuilder in an engineering works in Fitchburg, MA (1865), and from 1867 took out patents for a wide range of inventions, including electric lamps and gas equipment. An interest in automatic weapons took him to England in 1881, where he perfected the Maxim machine-gun in 1883. He also invented a pneumatic gun, a smokeless powder, a mousetrap, and carbon filaments for light bulbs. He became a British subject in 1900, and was knighted in 1901. |
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