On August 12, 1851 Isaac Merritt Singer was issued a patent for the first Singer sewing machine
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This photo and text are from the National Museum of American History
http://americanhistory.si.edu/collec...t/nmah_1071133
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Patent No. 8,294, issued August 12, 1851
Isaac Merritt Singer of New York, New York
The eighth child of poor German immigrants, Isaac was born on October 27, 1811, in Pittstown, New York. As a young man he worked as a mechanic and cabinetmaker. For a time he was an actor, and formed his own theatrical troupe, “The Merritt Players.” Needing a steadier income, Singer worked for a plant in Fredericksburg, Ohio, that manufactured wooden type for printers. Seeing the need for a better type-carving machine, he invented an improved one."
Read more at:
http://americanhistory.si.edu/collec...t/nmah_1071133