The Devil's Paintbrush

September 17, 2019
1 min read
I’d like to tell you the tale of one of history’s great inventors. So great, in fact, that Thomas Edison paid him to move to Europe and stop working on new designs.
So, we’re going to talk about Hiram Stevens Maxim – and what happened after Edison made him that deal.
One never knows how even the most flippant remarks may effect world history. There is no greater example than this one.
While he was in Europe, Hiram was visited by an old friend from America. His friend said to him, “Look, drop all this chemistry nonsense. If you want to make real money, give the Europeans something to cut each other’s throats with.”

Flippant as it may seem, that statement rocked Maxim to his core.
By 1886 he had his first working prototype. It was accurate. It was ultimately reliable, and at a time when the finest soldiers in the world could fire 26 rounds per minute with a bolt action rifle, you could put a moron behind this weapon and tell him to pull the trigger, and fire a symbolic 666 rounds per minute.
Maxim invented the world’s first machine gun in 1886. When Americans were still using Gatling Guns.

1 Comment Leave a Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Support Men Of The West

Previous Story

The Decision Process: A Car for My Child

Next Story

Hollow-Headed Democrats

Latest from Firearms

Ukraine, NATO, and the End of the Postwar Order

Russia is massing troops on the Ukrainian border. America is threatening sanctions or worse. Britain warns of war, while Germany wants peace. Is the post-WWII geopolitical order crumbling? Will Russia always be

The Commies Are Coming

The Commiecrats in congress have shifted their focus to gun grabbing. As they are writing their bill, and just a few days after a Colorado judge shot down a case that would
Go toTop