John Thorp

John Thorp (born 1784, Rehoboth, Mass., U.S.—died Nov. 15, 1848, Providence, R.I.) was an American inventor of the ring spinning machine (1828), which by the 1860s had largely replaced Samuel Crompton’s spinning mule in the world’s textile mills because of its greater productivity and simplicity. Little is known of Thorp’s early life. His first patent, received at the age of 28 for a hand and water loom, demonstrated his ability. His use of a ring...