Elias Howe and the Sewing Machine

July 9 marked the birthday of Elias Howe, the inventor the sewing machine. Born in Spencer, Massachusetts in 1819, Howe lost a factory job in the Panic of 1837 and moved Boston, where he worked in a machinist's shop where he started with the idea of inventing a mechanical sewing machine. You can also read an overview of the Industrial Revolution here.