Walter hunt

THE PANTHEON OF great inventors must have a special corner dedicated to those creative souls who were good at making everything except money. The image of the penniless inventors, their creations making other people rich, is an enduring one in the popular imagination, and few fit the description of the unfortunate inventor quite as perfectly as Walter Hunt. While Hunt’s name has largely been forgotten, at least one of his inventions is one of the most ubiquitous household objects in existence – the humble safety pin. Surely the person behind such an inspired creation got rich off the back of his ingenuity? No: not only did Hunt fail to capitalise on the safety pin, he barely capitalised on any of his multiple inventions. His life’s work was full of inventions in a wide variety of fields, but the one thing they all had in common was that he failed to profit greatly from any of them. Hunt was born in the small town of Martinsburg in upper New York state at the tail end of the 18th century, where he trained in masonry and worked in a textile mill. While still in his 20s, Hunt developed a more efficient flax spinner, an early example of his mechanical ingenuity. It was for this invention he received his first patent in 1826, and it was then that he began what was to become an unfortunate habit – while trying to raise the capital to make a business around his new machine, he decided to sell the patent outright. The result was an immediate payday, but the loss of subsequent earn...

The Winchester rifle was hailed by its manufacturer as “the gun that won the West.” But there’s a lot more to the story than that. The rifle that became the Winchester had a long, tortuous development that involved some of the era’s most influential businessmen and 📖 You love badass history. So do we. The Winchester’s Ancestors Theodore Roosevelt in his hunting suit, with a carved Tiffany hunting knife and Winchester rifle. George Grantham Baine The Winchester rifle’s technological family tree runs through the Both rifles used an ingenious form of ammunition called the Volition or rocket ball, which had a propellant charge in its base. These new and a percussion cap went into position automatically. Only when the trigger ring was pulled fully would the rifle fire. Loading, priming, and firing were accomplished with just one trigger pull—a revolutionary improvement over earlier rifles. Jennings Patent, 1849. U.S. Patent Office Even so, the gun didn’t sell, in part because it was underpowered and expensive to manufacture. But two new investors you may have heard of, The Volcanic was offered as both a pistol and a rifle and enjoyed some limited commercial success. But the Volcanic’s rocket ball, which evolved from Hunt’s initial ammunition, proved to be the gun’s Achilles heel, undermining the Volcanic rifle’s promising design. Smith & Wesson would sell off the company in 1855 to a group led by Oliver Winchester before going on to found the legendary The Blue and the Gray In ...

One of these inventions was an early repeating rifle that would lead to the Henry Repeating Rifle, a weapon that was decisive in some Civil War battles. He was also the man behind the safety pin, an attachment for icebreaker ships, and an improved fountain pen, in addition to lots of other things that our audience doesn't care about. But, like the early M16s, Hunt's design had reliability issues, and he didn't have the money or the inclination to go through a series of prototypes and redesigns. So, he sold the patent and design to investor George Arrowsmith who got the weapon into production and asked three men to improve the design. Benjamin Tyler Henry, Horace Smith, and Daniel B. Wesson made improvements on the design to create the Henry Repeating Rifle. The Henry Repeating Rifle and similar designs were unpopular with many generals but mid-level officers who embraced them saw the potential early. One of the first wide-spread deployments of repeating rifles came in 1863 when Union Col. John T. Wilder got a loan from his own bank to outfit his entire mounted infantry brigade with the Spencer Repeating Rifle, similar in design to the Henry. The plan was to ride to the battle on horses, then dismount and put the new repeating rifles into effect. Wilder's brigade was sent to secure Hoover's Gap in Tennessee ahead of a Union attack on Manchester. The Confederates anticipated the maneuver and were working to reinforce the gap before the Union could arrive in force on June 24,...

MARTINSBURG, New York (WWNY) - “Walter Hunt is without a doubt the most famous American inventor that nobody’s ever heard of,” said Cole Mullin, who’s office manager for the Lewis County Historical Society. If you’ve ever used a safety pin, sewing machine, pen, or revolving pistol, you can thank Walter Hunt. “Walter Hunt was born 1796 in Martinsburg,” Mullin said. “He was the oldest of 14 children of a Quaker farm family. By the 1820s he lived in Lowville with his wife, Polly, on a farm of their own.” It was there that Hunt invented a flax spinning machine for a mill owner. “There was concern of a strike at the flax mill and Hunt suggested he get better machinery to improve production and increase wages,” Mullin said, “and the owner said, ‘well, why don’t you invent that machine.’” Hunt made countless inventions and patented 30 of them, many of which we still use today, like the safety lamp, a nail-cutting machine, an ice-cutting boat, and a fountain pen, which came from a clumsy friend’s visit to Hunt’s workshop. “One of Hunt’s friends knocked over his ink well and said, ‘well, why don’t you invent an inkwell that doesn’t spill?’ Then he had the idea why don’t I invent a pen that holds its own ink and make the ink well obsolete.” He also invented the repeating rifle, because his son enlisted in the U.S. Army during the Mexican-American war. Hunt wanted soldiers to be better equipped. He hoped it would make the war end faster so his son would never see battle. “So, he inve...

Inventor. Born in Martinsburg, New York, he was a mechanic whom created many practical things, as well as a few unusual ones. Among his many inventions, he is best known for creating the safety pin and making the first workable sewing machine. He also invented a machine to make rope, a grindstone to sharpen knives and a device for spinning wool and cotton. He continued to work on his inventions until his death. Inventor. Born in Martinsburg, New York, he was a mechanic whom created many practical things, as well as a few unusual ones. Among his many inventions, he is best known for creating the safety pin and making the first workable sewing machine. He also invented a machine to make rope, a grindstone to sharpen knives and a device for spinning wool and cotton. He continued to work on his inventions until his death. Read More Bio by: General photo guidelines: • Photos larger than 8.0 MB will be optimized and reduced. • Each contributor can upload a maximum of 5 photos for a memorial. • A memorial can have a maximum of 20 photos from all contributors. • The sponsor of a memorial may add an additional 10 photos (for a total of 30 on the memorial). • Include gps location with grave photos where possible. • No animated GIFs, photos with additional graphics (borders, embellishments.) • No post-mortem photos. 1 photo picked... 2 photos picked... Size exceeded You may not upload any more photos to this memorial "Unsupported file type" Uploading... Waiting... Success Failed This...

Inventor. Born in Martinsburg, New York, he was a mechanic whom created many practical things, as well as a few unusual ones. Among his many inventions, he is best known for creating the safety pin and making the first workable sewing machine. He also invented a machine to make rope, a grindstone to sharpen knives and a device for spinning wool and cotton. He continued to work on his inventions until his death. Inventor. Born in Martinsburg, New York, he was a mechanic whom created many practical things, as well as a few unusual ones. Among his many inventions, he is best known for creating the safety pin and making the first workable sewing machine. He also invented a machine to make rope, a grindstone to sharpen knives and a device for spinning wool and cotton. He continued to work on his inventions until his death. Read More Bio by: General photo guidelines: • Photos larger than 8.0 MB will be optimized and reduced. • Each contributor can upload a maximum of 5 photos for a memorial. • A memorial can have a maximum of 20 photos from all contributors. • The sponsor of a memorial may add an additional 10 photos (for a total of 30 on the memorial). • Include gps location with grave photos where possible. • No animated GIFs, photos with additional graphics (borders, embellishments.) • No post-mortem photos. 1 photo picked... 2 photos picked... Size exceeded You may not upload any more photos to this memorial "Unsupported file type" Uploading... Waiting... Success Failed This...

The Winchester rifle was hailed by its manufacturer as “the gun that won the West.” But there’s a lot more to the story than that. The rifle that became the Winchester had a long, tortuous development that involved some of the era’s most influential businessmen and 📖 You love badass history. So do we. The Winchester’s Ancestors Theodore Roosevelt in his hunting suit, with a carved Tiffany hunting knife and Winchester rifle. George Grantham Baine The Winchester rifle’s technological family tree runs through the Both rifles used an ingenious form of ammunition called the Volition or rocket ball, which had a propellant charge in its base. These new and a percussion cap went into position automatically. Only when the trigger ring was pulled fully would the rifle fire. Loading, priming, and firing were accomplished with just one trigger pull—a revolutionary improvement over earlier rifles. Jennings Patent, 1849. U.S. Patent Office Even so, the gun didn’t sell, in part because it was underpowered and expensive to manufacture. But two new investors you may have heard of, The Volcanic was offered as both a pistol and a rifle and enjoyed some limited commercial success. But the Volcanic’s rocket ball, which evolved from Hunt’s initial ammunition, proved to be the gun’s Achilles heel, undermining the Volcanic rifle’s promising design. Smith & Wesson would sell off the company in 1855 to a group led by Oliver Winchester before going on to found the legendary The Blue and the Gray In ...

THE PANTHEON OF great inventors must have a special corner dedicated to those creative souls who were good at making everything except money. The image of the penniless inventors, their creations making other people rich, is an enduring one in the popular imagination, and few fit the description of the unfortunate inventor quite as perfectly as Walter Hunt. While Hunt’s name has largely been forgotten, at least one of his inventions is one of the most ubiquitous household objects in existence – the humble safety pin. Surely the person behind such an inspired creation got rich off the back of his ingenuity? No: not only did Hunt fail to capitalise on the safety pin, he barely capitalised on any of his multiple inventions. His life’s work was full of inventions in a wide variety of fields, but the one thing they all had in common was that he failed to profit greatly from any of them. Hunt was born in the small town of Martinsburg in upper New York state at the tail end of the 18th century, where he trained in masonry and worked in a textile mill. While still in his 20s, Hunt developed a more efficient flax spinner, an early example of his mechanical ingenuity. It was for this invention he received his first patent in 1826, and it was then that he began what was to become an unfortunate habit – while trying to raise the capital to make a business around his new machine, he decided to sell the patent outright. The result was an immediate payday, but the loss of subsequent earn...

One of these inventions was an early repeating rifle that would lead to the Henry Repeating Rifle, a weapon that was decisive in some Civil War battles. He was also the man behind the safety pin, an attachment for icebreaker ships, and an improved fountain pen, in addition to lots of other things that our audience doesn't care about. But, like the early M16s, Hunt's design had reliability issues, and he didn't have the money or the inclination to go through a series of prototypes and redesigns. So, he sold the patent and design to investor George Arrowsmith who got the weapon into production and asked three men to improve the design. Benjamin Tyler Henry, Horace Smith, and Daniel B. Wesson made improvements on the design to create the Henry Repeating Rifle. The Henry Repeating Rifle and similar designs were unpopular with many generals but mid-level officers who embraced them saw the potential early. One of the first wide-spread deployments of repeating rifles came in 1863 when Union Col. John T. Wilder got a loan from his own bank to outfit his entire mounted infantry brigade with the Spencer Repeating Rifle, similar in design to the Henry. The plan was to ride to the battle on horses, then dismount and put the new repeating rifles into effect. Wilder's brigade was sent to secure Hoover's Gap in Tennessee ahead of a Union attack on Manchester. The Confederates anticipated the maneuver and were working to reinforce the gap before the Union could arrive in force on June 24,...

MARTINSBURG, New York (WWNY) - “Walter Hunt is without a doubt the most famous American inventor that nobody’s ever heard of,” said Cole Mullin, who’s office manager for the Lewis County Historical Society. If you’ve ever used a safety pin, sewing machine, pen, or revolving pistol, you can thank Walter Hunt. “Walter Hunt was born 1796 in Martinsburg,” Mullin said. “He was the oldest of 14 children of a Quaker farm family. By the 1820s he lived in Lowville with his wife, Polly, on a farm of their own.” It was there that Hunt invented a flax spinning machine for a mill owner. “There was concern of a strike at the flax mill and Hunt suggested he get better machinery to improve production and increase wages,” Mullin said, “and the owner said, ‘well, why don’t you invent that machine.’” Hunt made countless inventions and patented 30 of them, many of which we still use today, like the safety lamp, a nail-cutting machine, an ice-cutting boat, and a fountain pen, which came from a clumsy friend’s visit to Hunt’s workshop. “One of Hunt’s friends knocked over his ink well and said, ‘well, why don’t you invent an inkwell that doesn’t spill?’ Then he had the idea why don’t I invent a pen that holds its own ink and make the ink well obsolete.” He also invented the repeating rifle, because his son enlisted in the U.S. Army during the Mexican-American war. Hunt wanted soldiers to be better equipped. He hoped it would make the war end faster so his son would never see battle. “So, he inve...