Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim (5 February 1840 – 24 November 1916) was an American-born British inventor most famous for creating the first self-loading machine gun, the Maxim gun. He held patents for many mechanical devices, including hair curlers, a mousetrap, and steam pumps. Maxim claimed to have invented the lightbulb.

Maxim experimented with powered flight, but his large aircraft designs did not work. Around 1904, he designed a very popular amusement ride called the "Captive Flying Machine" to support his research and increase public interest in flight.

Maxim moved from the United States to the United Kingdom when he was 41. He stayed an American citizen until he became a naturalized British citizen in 1899. He was given a knighthood in 1901.

Birth and early life

Maxim was born on February 5, 1840, in Sangerville, Maine. His family had French Huguenot roots. At the age of 14, he began an apprenticeship as a coachbuilder. Ten years later, he worked at the machine shop of his uncle, Levi Stephens, in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. Later, he held jobs as an instrument-maker and as a draughtsman. His early work experiences in these fields often led to disappointment with workers when he managed his own businesses later in life. Hiram called himself a Protestant.

Inventions

Hiram Maxim, who had long suffered from bronchitis, created and produced a small menthol inhaler and a larger device called the "Pipe of Peace," which used steam and pine vapor to help with asthma, tinnitus, hay fever, and catarrh. After people criticized him for using his skills to create unproven treatments, he defended his work by saying, "It is honorable to invent a killing machine, but shameful to create something that stops human suffering."

He also designed a curling iron, a tool to remove magnetism from watches, machines that used electricity, devices to keep ships from rocking, machines for making eyelets and rivets, weapons for airplanes, a torpedo gun, coffee substitutes, and engines powered by oil, steam, and gas.

A large furniture factory had burned down multiple times, and Maxim was asked to find a way to prevent future fires. He invented the first automatic fire sprinkler system, which would put out fires and notify the fire station. Though he could not sell his idea at first, it was later used after his patent expired.

Maxim installed the first electric lights in a building in New York City (the Equitable Life Building at 120 Broadway) in the late 1870s. In 1878, he helped start the United States Electric Lighting Company with Edward Weston to make his lighting designs available for sale.

Maxim had long disagreements with Thomas Edison over who invented the lightbulb. One dispute involved the incandescent bulb. Maxim claimed that Edison was given credit because he understood patent laws better. He also said that one of his employees had falsely claimed to invent the bulb, but Edison proved this was untrue, allowing Edison to make the bulb without giving Maxim credit.

Maxim once said, "In 1882, I was in Vienna and met an American I knew. He told me, 'Forget about chemistry and electricity! If you want to make money, invent something that helps Europeans fight each other more easily.'"

As a child, Maxim was hit by a rifle's recoil, which inspired him to use that force to automatically operate a gun. Between 1883 and 1885, he patented methods for gas, recoil, and blowback gun operations. After moving to England, he lived in a house once owned by Lord Thurlow and developed an automatic weapon. His design used recoil energy to prepare the gun for the next shot. He warned neighbors in local newspapers that he would test the gun in his garden and asked them to keep windows open to avoid broken glass.

Maxim started a weapons company with financial support from Edward Vickers to produce his machine gun in Crayford, Kent. The company later merged with Nordenfelt. In 1897, part of the Barrow Shipbuilding Company was bought by Vickers Corporation, forming "Vickers, Son & Maxim." After Maxim left the company in 1911, the Vickers machine gun, an improved version of his design, became the standard British machine gun for many years. Variants of the Maxim gun were used by both sides during World War I, with sales managed by Basil Zaharoff.

In his later years, Maxim became deaf due to years of exposure to the loud noise of his guns.

Maxim’s father had earlier dreamed of a helicopter powered by two rotors spinning in opposite directions but could not build it because of weak engines. Hiram first sketched plans for a helicopter in 1872 but later used wings for his first "flying machine." Before designing, he tested wing and propeller shapes using a wind tunnel and a whirling arm test rig. In 1889, he began building a 40-foot-long (12 m) craft with a 110-foot (34 m) wingspan, weighing 3.5 tons, powered by two steam engines driving large wooden propellers.

The machine was tested on a 1,800-foot (550 m) rail track at his home, Baldwyn’s Park. Initially, heavy wheels were used to stop the machine from lifting, but after tests, Maxim added four wheeled outriggers to prevent takeoff. During a trial in 1894, the machine lifted but was stopped by the outriggers. The test ended safely, but Maxim later gave up on the project and focused on fairground rides. He noted that a working flying machine would need stronger engines.

To fund his flight research and raise awareness about flight, Maxim built an amusement ride for the Earl’s Court exhibition in 1904. The ride was based on a test rig he used for his research and featured a large spinning frame with cars that swung outward, simulating flight. The ride was similar to the later Circle Swing, made popular by Harry Traver.

Maxim originally planned to use wings for rider control but was forced to stop after safety concerns. He later called the ride "a glorified merry-go-round." His company built more rides at The Crystal Palace and seaside resorts like Southport and Blackpool, which opened in 1904. A breakdown on the original ride forced him to build more to make the venture profitable. He had plans for other ride versions but lost interest in the amusement business.

Although he regretted the project, the rides were well-regarded in the industry. The Blackpool ride still operates today as part of the Pleasure Beach amusement park and is the oldest working ride in Europe. It is nearly unchanged from Maxim’s original design. The ride’s full name is "Sir Hiram Maxim’s Captive Flying Machines," though it is often called "Flying Machines."

In 2001, Disney California Adventure Park opened the Golden Zephyr, a modern version of the Traver ride. Engineers from Disney visited the Blackpool ride to study it and help design their version.

Grahame-White, Blériot, and Maxim Company

In 1911, Maxim led the newly created Grahame-White, Blériot, and Maxim Company, which was started with two aviators and 200,000 pounds of money. He aimed to build military planes that could explore or drop a bomb weighing 500 pounds (230 kg). However, his health problems and financial issues with other businesses limited his ability to develop this project before his death.

Philosophy

Maxim, a man who never believed in God, collected and organized a book titled Li Hung Chang's Scrapbook. This book was written for Li Hung Chang (also known as Li Hongzhang and Li Hung-chang) and aimed to explain a question that puzzled many Chinese people: How could people who build locomotives and steamships believe in a religion that includes ideas about devils, ghosts, and impossible miracles?

Maxim had little respect for European missionaries in China, as explained in the scrapbook. He wrote that his goal was to help the Chinese understand that not all Europeans were foolish. His book included about 400 pages and 42 pictures. It discussed topics such as the nature of Christianity, how Christianity was practiced in China, and his thoughts on miracles, spirituality, faith, and the Bible's role in shaping European and American civilizations. The book ended with Maxim's comments to missionaries and his views on why missionary efforts in China were not successful.

Honours

Maxim was a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour; a Civil, Mechanical, and Electrical Engineer; a Member of the London Chamber of Commerce; a Fellow of the Royal Institution; a Member of the British Association for the Advancement of Science; a Member of the British Empire League; and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Emigration and knighthood

In 1881, Maxim went to Britain to reorganize the London offices of the United States Electric Lighting Company. His visits to the United States happened less often over time. On September 16, 1899, Maxim became a naturalized British citizen. The next year, Queen Victoria gave him a knighthood. However, Queen Victoria died on January 22, 1901, just before the ceremony. Because of this, the honor was given by Maxim's friend and new king, Edward VII, at Marlborough House on February 9, 1901.

Death

Maxim passed away at his home in Streatham, London on 24 November 1916 at the age of 76. He is buried in South London's West Norwood Cemetery with his wife and his grandson, Lieutenant Colonel Maxim Joubert.

Family

Hiram Maxim’s brother, Hudson Maxim, was also a military inventor who focused on explosives. The two brothers worked closely together until later in life, when they disagreed about a patent for smokeless powder. Hiram claimed the patent was issued under the name “H. Maxim,” which he believed allowed his brother to claim the invention as his own. Hudson was a skilled and knowledgeable man who sold weapons in the United States, while Hiram worked mainly in Europe. Hudson’s success in the U.S. caused jealousy in Hiram, who felt he had a “double” of himself in America. These disagreements and feelings of jealousy created a lasting argument between the brothers that continued for the rest of their lives.

Hiram Maxim married his first wife, Jane Budden, an English-born woman, on May 11, 1867, in Boston, Massachusetts. Their children were: Hiram Percy Maxim, Florence Maxim (who married George Albert Cutter), and Adelaide Maxim (who married Eldon Joubert, the piano tuner for Ignacy Jan Paderewski). In 1875, the family moved to Fanwood, New Jersey, and Hiram joined them on weekends.

Hiram’s son, Hiram Percy Maxim, followed in his father’s and uncle’s footsteps by becoming a mechanical engineer and weapons designer. He is best known for his early experiments with radio and for founding the American Radio Relay League. He also invented the “Maxim Silencer,” a device to reduce noise, but it was too late to help his father’s hearing. Hiram Percy later wrote a biography titled A Genius in the Family, which included about 60 stories about his childhood experiences with his father. These stories offer a personal view of Hiram Maxim’s life. A film titled So Goes My Love, loosely based on these memoirs and starring Don Ameche and Myrna Loy, was released in 1946.

Hiram Maxim married his secretary and mistress, Sarah, the daughter of Charles Haynes of Boston, in 1881. It is unclear if he was legally divorced from his first wife, Jane Budden, at that time. Their marriage was also registered in Westminster, London, in 1890.

A woman named Helen Leighton claimed that Hiram had married her in 1878 and that he was committing bigamy by marrying Jane Budden. She also said that Hiram had a child named Romaine with her. The case was dropped after a settlement for less than $1,000 (the original request was $25,000), and Hiram avoided public embarrassment from the situation. In October 1898, Helen Leighton again accused Hiram of bigamy and abandonment in Poughkeepsie, New York. Later in life, Hiram left 4,000 pounds sterling to a person named Romaine Dennison, possibly the child Helen Leighton claimed he had fathered.

Books

• Artificial and Natural Flight. By Whittaker. Published in 1908.
• Artificial and Natural Flight (Second edition with supplement). By Whittaker. Published in 1909.
• Li Hung Chang's Scrapbook.
• A New System of Preventing Collisions at Sea. Published by Schwarz Press in 2009. ISBN 978-1-4446-0553-2. Archived from the original on July 24, 2012. Retrieved on September 20, 2009.
• My Life. Published by Methuen & Co., Ltd. in 1915. ISBN 9781408609675. Note: ISBN and date information may not match.
• Monte Carlo Facts and Fallacies. By Grant Richards. Published in 1904.