Today in 1836, Hartford inventor Samuel Colt received a U.S. patent for his first revolving chamber percussion pistol — a new type of firearm which would revolutionize the settlement of the American West and make Connecticut a world leader in arms manufacturing. Colt’s revolver had its roots in young Samuel’s inability to stay focused…
Tag: samuel colt
February 4: Colt Firearms Factory Destroyed By Fire
On the morning of February 4, 1864, just after 8:00am, the loud, sharp, incessant tones of a steam whistle pierced the air in Hartford, alerting city residents to danger. As men and women rushed toward the source of the noise in the city’s south end, they were shocked to find the massive East…
January 10: Samuel Colt, Legendary Gun Manufacturer, Dies at 47
Today in 1862, gunmaker Samuel Colt died in Hartford. Though he was only 47 years old, Colt died one of the richest men in the United States and left a legacy of manufacturing and innovation that changed the face of Hartford, Connecticut to the Western American frontier and beyond. Internationally recognized for his formative…
September 1: Industrial Genius Elisha K. Root Dies in Hartford
The man at the root of Connecticut’s 19th century industrial greatness – Elisha King Root – died in Hartford on this day in 1865. Root’s machine tool genius revolutionized axe production in Collinsville and the Colt Firearms Company in Hartford an worldwide icon of precision manufacturing. Born in western Massachusetts in 1808, Root became…