Sir Hiram Maxim

Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim (5 February 1840 – 24 November 1916) was an American-born British inventor best known as the creator of the first automatic machine gun, the Maxim gun. Maxim held patents on numerous mechanical devices such as hair-curling irons, a mousetrap, and steam pumps. Maxim laid claim to inventing the lightbulb. Maxim experimented with powered flight; his large aircraft designs were never successful. Circa 1904 he designed a highly successful amusement ride called the "Captive Flying Machine" to fund his research while generating public interest in flight. Maxim moved from the United States to the United Kingdom at the age of 41, and remained an American citizen until he became a naturalised British citizen in 1899, and received a knighthood in 1901.