Skip to main content
  • Main menu
Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation
  • Home
  • Study
    • Explore
    • Try
    • About
    • Multimedia
  • Archives
    • Research Opportunities
    • Lemelson Center Books
    • Lemelson Center Research
    • Symposia & Conferences
  • Hiram Maxim Collection, ca. 1890-1916
Logo for the Modern Inventors Documentation database, showing a stylized head with words like creativity and innovation written on different parts of the brain

This is a Smithsonian collection. See contact information below.

Hiram Maxim Collection, ca. 1890-1916

July 23, 2014
Twitter Facebook Tumblr Email Print

Inventor Name

Maxim, Hiram

Repository

National Air and Space Museum
Smithsonian Institution
Archives Division
Room 3100, MRC 322
PO Box 37012
Washington, DC 20013-7012
202-633-2320
http://www.nasm.si.edu/research/arch/

Physical Description

1.09 cubic foot

Summary

Sir Hiram Maxim (1840-1916) was an engineer and inventor. In 1878, while serving as Chief Engineer of the US Electric Lighting Co., he fought and lost a priority battle with Thomas Edison over the invention of the electric light. He then turned to mechanical engineering and invented the first efficient machine gun. The US government was not interested in the gun, so in 1881 Maxim traveled to England and established the Maxim Gun Co. The company merged with Nordenfeldt Co. (1888) and Vickers Co., which eventually formed Vickers Sons and Maxim (1896). The British War Office adopted the gun and Maxim became a British citizen (1901) and was knighted by Queen Victoria. Maxim experimented in aeronautics during the thirty years before his death and wrote a number of books and articles on the subject, including Artificial and Natural Flight in 1908. Material by or about Maxim, primarily published works and newsclippings. Includes an unpublished paper concerning Maxim's aeronautical experiments.

Tags

  • Air and space (Relevance: 68%)
  • Lighting (Relevance: 15%)
  • Weapons (Relevance: 19%)
  • Military technology (Relevance: 35%)

VIEW 2727 Matching Results

Found 2727 Stories

  • Agriculture and horticulture (Relevance: 5.2071873854052%)
  • Air and space (Relevance: 6.7473414008067%)
  • Archives@NMAH (Relevance: 8.4341767510084%)
  • Chemistry (Relevance: 3.0803080308031%)
  • Food and drink (Relevance: 3.3003300330033%)
  • Industry and manufacturing (Relevance: 7.5540887422076%)
  • Medicine, health, and life sciences (Relevance: 4.5837917125046%)
  • Military technology (Relevance: 3.3370003667033%)
  • Mining and drilling (Relevance: 3.4103410341034%)
  • Patents and trademarks (Relevance: 11.367803447011%)
  • Photography, film, television, and video (Relevance: 3.8503850385039%)
  • Power generation, motors, and engines (Relevance: 3.4470113678034%)
  • Spark!Lab (Relevance: 3.5203520352035%)
  • Textiles and clothing (Relevance: 3.3736707004034%)
  • Transportation (Relevance: 5.977264393106%)
  • Women inventors (Relevance: 3.3003300330033%)
❯
Go to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History website

About Menu

▼
Open menu
▲
Close menu
  • Explore
    • Blog
    • Invention Stories
    • Places of Invention
    • Beyond Words
  • Study
    • Research Opportunities
    • Archives
    • Lemelson Center Books
    • Lemelson Center Research
    • Symposia & Conferences
  • Try
    • DO Try This at Home!
    • Spark!Lab
    • Spark!Lab Network
    • Encouraging Innovative Thinking
  • About
    • Events
    • Exhibitions
    • News
    • Who We Are
    • FAQ
    • Donate
  • Multimedia
  • Tags
  • Surprise Me
  • Search
  • Open Drawer
Copyright 2023, Smithsonian Institution, All Rights Reserved
  • DONATE
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
Twitter Facebook Tumblr Email Print