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Hiram Maxim
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Sir Hiram Maxim.
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Sir Hiram Maxim.
Sir Hiram Maxim.

Hiram Maxim

American inventor
Also known as: Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim
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Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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Hiram Maxim (born February 5, 1840, Sangerville, Maine, U.S.—died November 24, 1916, London, England) was a prolific inventor best known for the Maxim machine gun. The eldest son of a farmer who was a locally notable mechanic, Maxim was apprenticed at age 14 to a carriage maker. Exhibiting an early genius for invention, he obtained his first patent in 1866, for a hair-curling iron. His iron was followed by a device for generating illuminating gas...

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