Sir Hiram Maxim
(1840-1916)

inventor, engineer, and Knight Bachelor (from 1901)

Died aged c. 76

Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim (5 February 1840 – 24 November 1916) was an American-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. 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 subject in 1899, and received a knighthood in 1901.

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Commemorated on 4 plaques

Sir Hiram Maxim's Flying Machine. Opened in August 1904, Sir Hiram Maxim's Flying Machine is the only surviving captive flying machine ride in the world and is Pleasure Beach's oldest ride. A steel pole, 62 feet high, supports 10 arms from which hang carriages, creating an illusion of flying. Designed by Sir Hiram Maxim to raise money for his attempts to be the first man to fly the measured mile.

Blackpool Pleasure Beach, Blackpool, United Kingdom where they designed

Sir Hiram Maxim 1840-1916 Across this site ran the track from which in 1894 this prolific inventor flew his aeroplane, the largest aircraft to lift itself off the ground in the nineteenth century. He lived in nearby Baldwyns Mansion.

Maypole Primary School, Franklin Road, Dartford, United Kingdom where they was

Sir Hiram Maxim 1840-1916 inventor and engineer designed and manufactured the Maxim gun in a workshop on these premises

57d Hatton Garden, EC1, London, United Kingdom where they designed the Maxim gun and manufactured the Maxim gun

Sir Hiram Maxim 1840-1916 Prolific inventor, lived here 1889-1904. In a hangar to the south-west of the house he built a steam-powered flying machine which briefly lifted itself off the ground in 1894

Off Sandringham Drive, Dartford, United Kingdom where they lived (1889-1904)