Hiram Maxim | |
|---|---|
 Maximc. 1916 | |
| Born | Hiram Stevens Maxim (1840-02-05)5 February 1840 Sangerville,Maine, U.S. |
| Died | 24 November 1916(1916-11-24) (aged 76) Streatham, London, England |
| Resting place | West Norwood Cemetery 51°26′01″N0°06′11″W / 51.43354°N 0.10314°W /51.43354; -0.10314 |
| Occupation | Inventor |
| Known for | Inventor ofMaxim gun Claimed inventor oflightbulb |
| Spouse(s) | Jane Budden (1867–1881?) Sarah Haynes (1881–1916, his death) |
| Children | Hiram Percy Maxim Florence Maxim Cutter Adelaide Maxim Joubert |
| Relatives | Hudson Maxim (brother) |
Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim (5 February 1840 – 24 November 1916) was an American-born British inventor best known as the creator of the firstautomaticmachine gun, theMaxim gun.[1] Maxim heldpatents on numerous mechanical devices such ashair-curling irons, amousetrap, andsteam pumps. Maxim laid claim to inventing thelightbulb.[2][3]
Maxim experimented withpowered flight; his large aircraft designs were never successful. Circa 1904 he designed a highly successfulamusement ride called the "Captive Flying Machine" to fund his research while generating public interest inflight.[4][5]
Maxim moved from the United States to the United Kingdom at the age of 41, and remained an American citizen until he became anaturalisedBritish citizen in 1899, and received aknighthood in 1901.[6][7]
Maxim was born inSangerville,Maine on 5 February 1840, into a family ofFrench Huguenot origin.[8] He became an apprenticecoachbuilder at the age of 14 and ten years later, took up a job at the machine works of his uncle, Levi Stephens, atFitchburg, Massachusetts. He subsequently worked as an instrument-maker and as a draughtsman.[9] His early jobs in these areas led him to be often disappointed with workers when he ran his own companies later on in life. Hiram called himself a Protestant.[10]
Maxim, a longtime sufferer ofbronchitis, patented and manufactured a pocketmentholinhaler and a larger "Pipe of Peace", a steam inhaler usingpine vapour, that he claimed could relieveasthma,tinnitus,hay fever andcatarrh.[11] After being criticised for applying his talents toquackery, 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".[12]
He also invented a curling iron, an apparatus for demagnetising 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.[13]
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 automaticfire 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.[14]
Maxim developed and installed the first electric lights in aNew York City building (theEquitable Life Building at 120Broadway) inManhattan in the late 1870s.[12] In 1878 he cofoundedUnited States Electric Lighting Company together withEdward Weston to commercialize his designs.
However, he was involved in several lengthy patent disputes withThomas Edison over his claims to thelightbulb. One of these actions regarded theincandescent bulb, for which Maxim claimed that Edison was credited by means of his better understanding ofpatenting law. 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.
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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.'"[12]
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 byLord Thurlow inWest 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.[15]
Maxim founded an arms company with financial backing fromEdward Vickers to produce his machine gun inCrayford, Kent, which later merged withNordenfelt. Subsequently, part of theBarrow Shipbuilding Company purchase byVickers Corporation in 1897, formed 'Vickers, Son & Maxim'. Their improved development of the Maxim gun design, theVickers 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 byBasil Zaharoff, variants of the Maxim gun were bought and used extensively by both sides duringWorld 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.[16]
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. Before starting design work, he carried out a series of experiments on aerofoil sections and propeller design, at first using awind tunnel and later building a whirling arm test rig.[17] Construction started in 1889 of a 40-foot-long (12 m) craft with a 110-foot (34 m) wingspan that weighed 3.5 tons, powered by two lightweightnaptha-fired 360-horsepower (268 kW)steam engines driving two 17-foot-diameter (5.2 m) laminated pine propellers.[18]
Conceived of as a test rig, the machine ran on an 1,800-foot (550 m) length of rail track which Maxim laid down for the purpose at his home, Baldwyn's Park Mansion, Baldwyn's Park inBexley.[19] The initial intention was to prevent the machine from lifting off by using heavy cast-iron wheels, but after initial trials, Maxim concluded that this would not suffice, and so the machine was fitted with four wheeled outriggers which were restrained by wooden rails 13 feet (4.0 m) outside the central track.[20] In trials in 1894, the machine lifted and was prevented from rising by the outriggers.[21] During its test run, all the outriggers were engaged, showing that it had developed enough lift to take off, but in so doing, it pulled up the track; the tethered "flight" was aborted in time to prevent disaster.[22] Maxim subsequently abandoned work on it but put his experience to work on fairground rides.[23] He subsequently noted that a feasible flying machine would need better power-to-weight engines, such as a petrol combustion engine.[24]
To both fund his research into flight and to bring attention to the notion of flight, Maxim designed and built an amusement ride for theEarl'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 laterCircle Swing ride, made popular in the US by renowned roller-coaster designerHarry Traver.
Maxim originally intended to use primitive aerofoils 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 atThe Crystal Palace and various seaside resorts includingSouthport,New Brighton, andBlackpool, 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 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 thePleasure Beach amusement park. Along with the same park's similarly historicriver 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 theGolden 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 smaller angle. Nevertheless, engineers from Disney visited Blackpool to inspect the Maxim ride (the only example of either version still standing) to help design their ride.
In 1911, Maxim headed the newly formedGrahame-White,Blériot, and Maxim Company, founded with the two aviators and two hundred thousand pounds of capital.[25]He had hoped to produce military aircraft capable of scouting or dropping a 500-pound (230 kg) bomb, but his failing health and financial difficulties with his other enterprises restricted his ability to develop this enterprise before his death.[26]
In addition to his engineering endeavors, Maxim, a lifelongatheist[27][28] "compiled and edited" a book he calledLi Hung Chang's Scrapbook.[29]This book was addressed toLi 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 themissionaries."[30]
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."[30] 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.
Maxim was aChevalier of the Legion of Honour; a Civil, Mechanical and Electrical Engineer; Member of theLondon Chamber of Commerce; Fellow of theRoyal Institution; Member of theBritish Association for the Advancement of Science; Member of theBritish Empire League; and Fellow of theRoyal Society of Arts.[29]
In 1881, Maxim arrived in Britain to reorganise the London offices of the United States Electric Lighting Company.[31] His visits back to the United States became increasingly infrequent and, on 16 September 1899, Maxim became a naturalisedBritish citizen.[32] In the following year,Queen Victoria bestowed aknighthood on him.[33] However Victoria died on 22 January 1901, shortly before Maxim's investiture, and so the honour was conferred by Maxim's "friend and new king,Edward VII" atMarlborough House on 9 February 1901.[34][35]
Maxim died at his home inStreatham, London on 24 November 1916 at the age of 76.[36][37] He is buried in south London'sWest Norwood Cemetery with his wife and his grandson,Lieutenant Colonel Maxim Joubert.
His brother,Hudson Maxim, was also a military inventor, specializing inexplosives. They worked quite closely together until later in life, when there was a disagreement on a patent forsmokeless 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 US, 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.[34]
Hiram Maxim married his first wife, the English-born Jane Budden, on 11 May 1867 inBoston,Massachusetts. 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.[38] In 1875, the family moved toFanwood, New Jersey, with Hiram joining the family on weekends.[39]
His son 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 earlyamateur radio experiments and for founding theAmerican Radio Relay League. His invention of the "Maxim Silencer" for noisesuppression came too late to save his father's hearing.[40] Hiram Percy later wrote a biography of his father titledA Genius in the Family, containing about 60 anecdotes of Hiram Percy's experiences with his father throughout his early life (until about age 12). Most of these short stories are entertaining; they give a reader an insider's (and a child's) view of the man's personal and family life.[41]So Goes My Love, a film loosely based on these memoirs and starringDon Ameche andMyrna Loy, was released in 1946.
Hiram Maxim married his secretary and mistress, Sarah, daughter of Charles Haynes of Boston, in 1881. It is not clear if he was legally divorced from his first wife at this time. The marriage was registered again inWestminster, London in 1890.[42][43]
A woman called Helen Leighton brought a case against Maxim, claiming that he had married her in 1878 and that "he was knowingly committing bigamy" against his current wife, Jane Budden. She claimed further that Maxim had fathered a child named Romaine by her. The case was eventually dropped, being settled for under $1,000 (the original amount asked for was $25,000), and Maxim put behind him the near public humiliation the case caused. In October 1898, Helen Leighton again brought charges against Maxim for bigamy and abandonment in Poughkeepsie, New York.[44] Later in life, he left 4,000 pounds sterling to a Romaine Dennison, perhaps the child Leighton claimed he had fathered.[45]
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)Hiram Maxim and light bulb.
Captive Flying Machine.
Sir Hiram Maxim, who has just resigned from the ordnance firm with which his name has been for so long connected, will be the Chairman of a new company to be known as the Grahame-White, Bleriot, and Maxim Company, limited, with a total authorized capital of 200,000 ($1,000,000.)
He was a member of the firm of Vickers' Sons and Maxim. Maxim was an aggressive Atheist (personal knowledge) and the compiler (with the present writer) of the collection of solid criticisms of religion...
Now Maxim really way a militant atheist!
