Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim 1840 - 1916

occupation:
Engineer, Inventor
Nationality:
American; British
born in:
Maine, United States

1878 - becomes chief engineer to the United States Electric Lighting Company: the first such company to be formed in the United States

1884 - opens a workshop in Hatton Garden, London, for gunnery design and making.

1884 - founds the Maxim Gun Company; preparing a design for a fully automatic gun; in order to block any competition he assiduously patented every conceivable device concerning the firing mechanism.