Week Eighteen Summary Essay
This week I learned about more inventions, and they were the postcard, the gatling gun, linoleum, and the ratcheting wrench. The inventors were John P. Charlton, Hyman Lipman, Richard Gatling, Fredrick Walton, and J.J. Richardson. Here is a paragraph about each of these inventions.
The first thing I learned about this week was the postcard. After the postage stamp started being used in the 1840s, paper prices began falling because the printing presses were getting better and better. John P. Charlton and Hyman Lipman invented the postcard based on their experience working with paper. Postcards are cheap, simple ways to deliver a long-distance message. The pictures and photos on them are interesting to people, and they could share these interesting pictures with friends and family. Because we now have the internet, people do not send postcards very often anymore. However, they are still in use today. I even received several from my grandmother while she was traveling through Europe.
The second thing I learned about this week was the Gatling gun. It was invented in 1861 by a man named Richard Gatling. The Gatling gun is a rapid-fire, multi-barrel gun. He did not do well at first while trying to sell his guns, and one of the reasons was his factory was set on fire. After that, he sold a couple, but it wasn’t until 1866 (about a year after the Civil War officially ended) when soldiers started purchasing them. Gatling eventually sold his patent to the Colt revolver company, where Colt improved his Gatling gun, from 400 rounds to 900 rounds per minute, and then later to 1,500 rounds (per minute). Today, Gatling guns can fire 4,000 rounds per minute! Finally, the Gatling gun has been used to expand the British and American empires.
The next lesson was about linoleum. Floor covering products advanced from stones to carpeting to rubber by the mid-1800s. Fredrick Walton invented linoleum after noticing how linseed oil dries into a rubber-like consistency. It’s a cheap, but durable flooring that is easy to clean. Walton marketed his new flooring and showed it in storefronts to allow people to walk in and see the product in action. Linoleum basically took over wood flooring after World War II, an is still in use today in many older homes and buildings.
The last lesson I learned about this week was the ratcheting wrench. Scientific American magazine was founded in 1845 and published news stories and the latest patents. Inventor J.J. Richardson invented the ratcheting socket wrench through the magazine in 1863. It uses a rachet to allow motion in only one direction, which speeds up the process of tightening nuts and bolts. Richardson advertised his wrench in the magazine, which helped him sell his new invention. They’re now standard tools in most mechanical toolkits.
As you can see, I have learned about four more inventions, and as usual I will explain to you my favorite one and why I like it. I think my favorite one is the gatling gun invented in 1861 by Richard Gatling. I personally think that the gatling gun is useful in war and can help defend the soldiers against the enemy. Of course, we don’t use the gatling gun in our everyday lives today, but you can still fire them for fun in many hunting and shooting stores.