A member of a noteworthy family of mechanics and draftsmen, Hiram Maxim, the creator of the first practical automatic machine gun, also experimented with a steam-powered flying machine in 1894. At age twenty-four, in his uncle's engineering firm in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, he invented a curling iron. Around 1868, he created a locomotive headlight that came into common use. His later inventions included an automatic fire extinguisher, automatic gas generator, engine governors, steam and vacuum pumps, inhalers for bronchitis, a mousetrap, automatic spindle, density regulator for equalizing the illuminating value of gas, and an electrical pressure regulator, which won him a French Legion of Honor.

Born in Sangerville, Maine, Maxim was the eldest son of a farmer and woodworker. At age fourteen, Maxim was apprenticed to a carriagemaker and learned numerous other trades in New England and Canada. As a hobby, he enjoyed pugilism and toyed with the idea of becoming...