Elias Howe

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Elias Howe (July 9, 1819 – October 3, 1867) was born in Spencer, Massachusetts. He was an American inventor and sewing machine pioneer. Contrary to popular belief, he did not invent the sewing machine (that honor was reserved for Walter Hunt), but on September 10, 1846, Howe was awarded the first United States patent for a sewing machine using a lock stitch design. This patent was disputed in court in the 1850s, since Walter Hunt had actually invented the lock stitch some years prior without patenting it. So technically Howe was a refiner of the sewing machine. Howe died on October 3rd, 1867. He was buried in Gravesend cemetery in New York. [1].

[edit] References in popular culture

• The Beatles's 1965 film Help! ends with the line, "Respectfully dedicated to Elias Howe who, in 1846, invented the sewing machine."
• Elias Howe is mistakenly identified as the inventor of the sewing machine in the Schoolhouse Rock song "Mother Necessity".