Sir Hiram Maxim

Date1880-1900

MediumPaper

ClassificationsArtworks/Commemorations/Photographs

Terms

Object numberLDCUM1924.002.003

DescriptionFramed, autographed portrait photograph depicting Sir Hiram Maxim.

Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim, inventor of the Maxim Gun, the first portable, fully automatic machine gun, cannily marketed his new invention by demonstrating it to members of the Royal Family and other celebrities.

The Maxim gun was quickly adopted by the British army and was used in campaigns in East and South Africa against native opponents armed with spears and rifles. The Maxim gun was later used in the First World War, contributing to the mechanisation of warfare that resulted in the mass slaughter of millions of combatants.

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