Gatling, Richard Jordan

Gatling, Richard Jordan

▪ American inventor
born Sept. 12, 1818, Maney's Neck, N.C., U.S.
died Feb. 26, 1903, New York, N.Y.

      American inventor best known for his invention of the Gatling gun (q.v.), a crank-operated, multibarrel machine gun, which he patented in 1862.

      Gatling's career as an inventor began when he assisted his father in the construction and perfecting of machines for sowing cotton seeds and for thinning cotton plants. In 1839 he perfected a practical screw propeller for steamboats, only to find that a patent had been granted to John Ericsson for a similar invention a few months earlier. He established himself in St. Louis, Mo., in 1844, and, taking the cotton-sowing machine as a basis, he adapted it for sowing rice, wheat, and other grains. The introduction of these machines did much to revolutionize the agricultural system in the country.

      Becoming interested in the study of medicine during an attack of smallpox, Gatling completed a course at the Ohio Medical College in 1850. In the same year, he invented a hemp-breaking machine, and in 1857 a steam plow. At the outbreak of the American Civil War he devoted himself at once to the perfecting of firearms. In 1861 he conceived the idea of the rapid-fire machine gun that is associated with his name. By 1862 he had succeeded in perfecting the weapon; but the war was practically over before the federal authorities consented to its official adoption.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • GATLING, RICHARD JORDAN —    the inventor of the Gatling gun, born in Hertford County, N. Carolina, U.S.; he was bred to and graduated in medicine, but in 1849 settled in Indianapolis and engaged in land and railway speculation; his famous machine gun, capable of firing… …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

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  • Richard Jordan Gatling — Infobox Scientist name =Richard Jordan Gatling box width = image width = caption =Photograph of Gatling birth date =September 12, 1818 birth place =Hertford County, North Carolina death date =February 26, 1903 death place =New York City residence …   Wikipedia

  • Richard Jordan Gatling — noun United States inventor of the first rapid firing gun (1818 1903) • Syn: ↑Gatling • Instance Hypernyms: ↑inventor, ↑discoverer, ↑artificer …   Useful english dictionary

  • Richard Gatling — Richard Jordan Gatling Richard Jordan Gatling (* 12. September 1818 in Hertford County, North Carolina; † 26. Februar 1903 in New York City) war ein amerikanischer Erfinder. Richard Jordan Gatling wurde auf einem Bauernhof in Indianapolis geboren …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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