There are some inventions like rockets to Mars and humanoid robot that take our breathaway. And there are some common inventions that we take it for granted like the sewing machine.
So who invented this great machine? There are several contenders for the big honour - USA, Germany, France,Russia and the United Kingdom.
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First Sewing
Machine |
In 1755, a German mechanic working in London, England by the name of
Charles Weisenthal was awarded the first British patent for a mechanical device for sewing - a double pointed needle with an eye at one end.
Then in 1790,
Thomas Saint , an Englishman, patented an idea for a machine that would punch holes in leather, then run a needle through them. It was an intriguing idea that never took shape.
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Sewing Machine
invented by Thomas Saint.
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Many more German and American inventors of the early 19th century developed machines but none of them were very efficient.
The first major breakthrough came around 1830. French tailor
Barthelemy Thimonnier patented a machine which used a hooked needle to produce a consistent stitch. He won a contract from the French army, but some 200 rioting tailors, who feared that the invention would ruin their businesses, destroyed the machines in 1831.
There were major improvements in the sewing machines built by
Walter Hunt of New York City in about 1832 - 34, which was never patented , and by
Elias Howe of Massachusetts, patented in 1846.
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| Elias Howe |
Sewing machines were first mass produced after the 1850's when Isaac Singer built the first commercially successful machine . In his machine the needle moved up and down rather than the side-to-side and the needle was powered by a foot treadle. However, singer's machine used the same lock stitch that Howe had patented. Elias Howe sued Isaac Singer for patent infringement and won in 1854.
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| Isaac Singer |
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