A Little Known Inventor...!

Once in a while, I run across someone that was very creative in the useful gadgets department, even though their name is mostly forgotten. That was the case with Walter Hunt. I think when you see some of the things he invented, you'll agree.

Walter Hunt

Walter Hunt was an American mechanic born in New York in 1796. Throughout his life he worked as an inventor and he managed to create a variety of different devices. The lockstitch sewing machine, safety pin, a forerunner of the Winchester repeating rifle, a successful flax spinner, knife sharpener, streetcar bell, hard-coal-burning stove, artificial stone, street sweeping machinery, the velocipede, and the ice plough are his most notable creations.

Many of his creations have served as indispensable additions and improvements to basic activities and devices in modern times. This is especially true for things like the simple safety pin and the complicated sewing machine. Unfortunately, none of his extremely useful inventions managed to win him an award throughout his life (nor afterwards).

As many times as I have used a safety pin, I never even though about who invented it. Crazy, huh?

Coffee out on the patio again.