{"id":242,"date":"2014-07-30T13:33:32","date_gmt":"2014-07-30T17:33:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/surfingthespectacle.com\/?p=242"},"modified":"2014-09-01T15:34:57","modified_gmt":"2014-09-01T19:34:57","slug":"the-man-who-made-the-mousetrap-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/surfingthespectacle.com\/?p=242","title":{"rendered":"The Man Who Made the Mousetrap"},"content":{"rendered":"<table width=\"100%\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" cellspacing=\"10\" bgcolor=\"#000000\">\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\" valign=\"top\" bgcolor=\"99CC99\">\n<div align=\"left\">\n<div id=\"content\">\n<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\"> <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.surfingthespectacle.com\/images\/uploads\/maximmouse.jpg\" border=\"10\" alt=\"image\" name=\"image\" width=\"350\" height=\"280\" \/> <\/p>\n<p>Who made the mousetrap?<\/p>\n<p>Who? Who?<\/p>\n<p>Hiram Maxim made the mousetrap.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s who.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.surfingthespectacle.com\/images\/uploads\/maximwide.jpg\" border=\"10\" alt=\"image\" name=\"image\" width=\"350\" height=\"371\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Hiram had a great creative mind.<\/p>\n<p>In 1881 Hiram visited the Paris Electrical Exhibition. <br \/>\nA man told him, \u201cIf you want to make a lot of money,<br \/>\ninvent something that will enable these Europeans <br \/>\nto cut each other&#8217;s throats with greater facility.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Hiram did. He invented the world\u2019s first automatic portable machine-gun.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.surfingthespectacle.com\/images\/uploads\/1885maximillust.jpg\" border=\"10\" alt=\"image\" name=\"image\" width=\"400\" height=\"266\" \/>  <\/p>\n<p>It could fire 500 rounds a minute, as much as 100 rifles.<\/p>\n<p>Hiram\u2019s invention was soon used in Africa with marvelous results. <\/p>\n<p>A small group of brave English soldiers could employ<br \/>\nthe Maxim Gun to mow line after line of unruly warriors <br \/>\ndesperate to save their homes from destruction.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.surfingthespectacle.com\/images\/uploads\/maximzulus-attacking.jpg\" border=\"10\" alt=\"image\" name=\"image\" width=\"320\" height=\"210\" \/>  <\/p>\n<p>Thousands could be slaughtered in an astonishingly<br \/>\nsafe and efficient manner.<\/p>\n<p>Hurrah!<\/p>\n<p>Queen Victoria was much impressed with this American inventor <br \/>\nfrom Maine and his splendid weapon.<\/p>\n<p>She made him a knight.<\/p>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.surfingthespectacle.com\/images\/uploads\/maxim1887victoria.jpg\" border=\"10\" alt=\"image\" name=\"image\" width=\"242\" height=\"331\" \/> <\/p>\n<p>Hiram kept improving his invention. <\/p>\n<p>It was a complicated business.<br \/>\nThere were problems regarding the weapon\u2019s weight, <br \/>\nits recoil, the need to keep it cool. <\/p>\n<p>But Hiram was quite ingenious.<br \/>\nMen around the world appreciated this.<\/p>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.surfingthespectacle.com\/images\/uploads\/maximgunners.jpg\" border=\"10\" alt=\"image\" name=\"image\" width=\"380\" height=\"252\" \/>  <\/p>\n<p>When they were ready for their Great War,  <br \/>\nvariations of Hiram&#8217;s machine gun <br \/>\ncould be found on all sides. <\/p>\n<p>It made a brilliant addition to a pointless conflict<br \/>\nin which millions butchered one another<br \/>\nin new and unparalleled ways!<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.surfingthespectacle.com\/images\/uploads\/maximdead.jpg\" border=\"10\" alt=\"image\" name=\"image\" width=\"386\" height=\"213\" \/> <\/p>\n<p>Hiram also invented a light bulb, a flying machine <br \/>\nand dozens of other devices.<\/p>\n<p>But his most famous invention would be his apparatus<br \/>\nfor the mass extermination of humans.<\/p>\n<p>Even the mousetrap,<\/p>\n<p>while quite wonderful,<\/p>\n<p>could not compete.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.surfingthespectacle.com\/images\/uploads\/maximface.jpg\" border=\"10\" alt=\"image\" name=\"image\" width=\"270\" height=\"365\" \/>  <\/div align> <\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Who made the mousetrap? Who? Who? Hiram Maxim made the mousetrap. That\u2019s who. Hiram had a great creative mind. In 1881 Hiram visited the Paris Electrical Exhibition. A man told him, \u201cIf you want to make a lot of money, invent something that will enable these Europeans to cut each other&#8217;s throats with greater facility.&#8221; [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/surfingthespectacle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/surfingthespectacle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/surfingthespectacle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/surfingthespectacle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/surfingthespectacle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=242"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/surfingthespectacle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":654,"href":"https:\/\/surfingthespectacle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242\/revisions\/654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/surfingthespectacle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/surfingthespectacle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/surfingthespectacle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}