SPURS N SIX GUNS HISTORY: INVENTIONS OF THE MID 1800'S

Morse telegraph

A Morse keyAn electrical telegraph was independently developed and patented in the United States in 1837 by Samuel F. B. Morse. His assistant, Alfred Vail, developed the Morse code signaling alphabet with Morse. America's first telegram was sent by Morse on 6 January 1838, across two miles (3 km) of wire at Speedwell Ironworks near Morristown, New Jersey. The message read "A patient waiter is no loser." On 24 May 1844, he sent the message "What hath God wrought" (quoting Numbers 23:23) from the Old Supreme Court Chamber in the Capitol in Washington to the old Mt. Clare Depot in Baltimore. This message was chosen by Annie Ellsworth of Lafayette, Indiana,[10] the daughter of Patent Commissioner Henry Leavitt Ellsworth. The Morse/Vail telegraph was quickly deployed in the following two decades; the overland telegraph connected the west coast of the continent to the east coast by 24 October 1861, bringing an end to the Pony Express.

History of Dynamite

Industrialist Alfred Nobel invented the detonator for dynamite and nitroglycerin

Swedish industrialist, engineer, and inventor, Alfred Nobel built bridges and buildings in Stockholm. His construction work inspired Nobel to research new methods of blasting rock. In 1860, the inventor first started experimenting with nitroglycerine.

The Nobel Patent Detonator - Blasting Cap
In 1863, Alfred Nobel invented the Nobel patent detonator or blasting cap for detonating nitroglycerin. The Nobel patent detonator used a strong shock rather than heat combustion to ignite the explosives. The Nobel Company built the first factory to manufacture nitroglycerin and dynamite.

Nitroglycerin and Dynamite
Nitroglycerin was first invented by Italian chemist Ascanio Sobrero in 1846. In its natural liquid state, nitroglycerin is very volatile. Albert Nobel understood this and in 1866 he discovered that mixing nitroglycerine with silica would turn the liquid into a malleable paste, called dynamite. One advantage of dynamite over nitroglycerin was that it could be cylinder-shaped for insertion into the drilling holes used for mining.

Patenting of Dynamite
In 1867, Nobel received U.S. patent number 78,317 for his dynamite. To be able to detonate the dynamite rods, Nobel also improved his detonator (blasting cap) so that it could be ignited by lighting a fuse.

In 1875, Nobel invented blasting gelatine in Paris and patented it in 1876. In 1887, he was granted a French patent for blasting powder "ballistite".

Biography
On October 21, 1833 Alfred Nobel was born in Stockholm, Sweden. His family moved to St. Petersburg in Russia when he was nine years old. Nobel prided himself on the many countries he lived in during his lifetime and considered himself a world citizen.
In 1864, Albert Nobel founded Nitroglycerin AB in Stockholm, Sweden. In 1865, he built the Alfred Nobel & Co. Factory in Krümmel near Hamburg, Germany. In 1866, he established the United States Blasting Oil Company in the U.S. In 1870, he established the Société général pour la fabrication de la dynamite in Paris, France.

When he died in 1896, Alfred Nobel left behind a nine million dollar endowment fund. The Nobel prize is awarded yearly to people whose work helps humanity. In total, Alfred Nobel held three hundred and fifty-five patents in the fields of electrochemistry, optics, biology, and physiology.

History of the Gatling Gun
In 1861, Doctor Richard Gatling patented the Gatling Gun


In 1861, Doctor Richard Gatling patented the Gatling Gun, a six-barreled weapon capable of firing a (then) phenomenal 200 rounds per minute. The Gatling gun was a hand-driven, crank-operated, multi-barrel, machine gun. The first machine gun with reliable loading, the Gatling gun had the ability to fire sustained multiple bursts.
Richard Gatling created his gun during the American Civil War, he sincerely believed that his invention would end war by making it unthinkable to use due to the horrific carnage possible by his weapons. At the least, the Gatling Gun's power would reduce the number of soldiers required to remain on the battlefield.

The 1862 version of the gatling gun had reloadable steel chambers and used percussion caps. It was prone to occasional jamming. In 1867, Gatling redesigned the Gatling gun again to use metallic cartridges - this version was bought and used by the United States Army.

Born September 12, 1818 in Hertford Count, North Carolina, Richard Gatling was the son of planter and inventor, Jordan Gatling, who held two patents of his own. Besides the Gatling gun, Richard Gatling also patented a seed-sowing rice planter in 1839 that was later adapted into a successful wheat drill.

In 1870, Richard Gatling and his family moved to Hartford, Connecticut, home of the Colt Armory where the Gatling gun was being manufactured.