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This media is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's ...

I'm thankful I was born in the 20th century, well after sewing machines went into mass production. They've come a long way from hand cranks and treadles to electronic and computerized models. For a ...

TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. About the Archive This is a digitized version of an article from The Times’s print archive, before the start of online ...

IN Cornhill, Boston, thirty years ago, there was a shop for the manufacture and repair of nautical instruments and philosophical apparatus, kept by Ari Davis. Mr. Davis was a very ingenious mechanic, ...

His first patent in 1839 was for a rock-drilling machine. Ten years later, he invented a wood and metal carving machine. He sold that first invention to a canal building company for $2,000, which ...

Just across the Augusta County line in Rockbridge lies the little town of Raphine, which is known as the home of Cyrus McCormick, co-inventor (along with his slave, Jo Anderson) of the reaper, which ...

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Author Martha Stewart writes in our 101 Objects Special Issue: Isaac Merritt Singer's sewing machine was a vast improvement upon earlier versions, capable of 900 stitches a minute -at a time when the ...

Special to The New York Times. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. About the Archive This is a digitized version of an article from The Times’s print ...

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