This Day in History: Hiram Stevens Maxim Dies

By Logan Metesh

U.S.A. –-(Ammoland.com)- On November 24, 1916, Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim died at the age of 76. Despite holding patents for everything from mousetraps to curling irons, Maxim is best known for his machine gun.

Born in Maine in 1840, Hiram tried for years to become successful in a variety of professions during the first 40 years of his life. It wasn’t until he moved to Europe that things really took off for him.

Before delving into Maxim’s history “across the pond,” there’s one more important thing to happen while he lived in the United States. In 1869, he and his first wife Jane had their first child: Hiram Percy Maxim. Percy would go on to patent the first successful firearms suppressor – the Maxim Silencer. Since both father and son shared the name Hiram, many assume that the same man who invented the machine gun also invented the suppressor, but that’s not the case.

OK, now to Hiram Stevens Maxim’s accomplishments in Europe. He reportedly told a newspaper that it was an American colleague in Vienna who, in 1882, quipped, “Hang your chemistry and electricity! If you want to make a pile of money, invent something …Read the Rest

Source:: AmmoLand