Richard Jordan Gatling

Richard Jordan Gatling was an American inventor and engineer who is best known for inventing the Gatling gun. He was born in 1818 in Maryland and grew up in a family of modest means. Gatling was largely self-taught and began his career as a machinist. He patented his Gatling gun in 1862, which was a significant innovation in the field of firearms. Gatling continued to work on new inventions throughout his life, including a machine gun that was used during the American Civil War. He died in 1903 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.