Rufus PorterBorn 1 May 1792; died 13 Aug 1884 at age 92. American editor and inventor who put out the first issue of Scientific American on 28 Aug 1845, but sold that business 10 months later to Orson Munn and Alfred Ely Beach. He editted it for one more year. As an inventor, he had little business sense, but held over 100 patents, including a fire alarm, signal telegraph, fog whistle, and a washing machine. He sold his patent for a revolving rifle to Samuel Colt for $100 in 1844. He had an interest in painting portraits, and in 1820 built a camera obscura. From 1820, he became interested in the hot-air balloon. He constructed his first model in 1833. Porter built and exhibited other models. By 1853, he demonstrated a 22-foot model airship which circled in the rotunda of the New York Merchant's Exchange. Ultimately, despite trying, he had no major success in aerial navigation.« |
