Richard Gatling. Portrait of Dr Richard Jordan Gatling (1818-1903), American inventor, metallurg- ist and machine gun pioneer. After graduating in med

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Richard Gatling. Portrait of Dr Richard Jordan Gatling (1818-1903), American inventor, metallurg- ist and machine gun pioneer. After graduating in medicine from Ohio Medical College, Gatling turned to invention. In response to the American Civil War of 1861-65, he developed a multi- barrelled gun in 1862. This was operated by a manually-turned handle and could fire up to 350 bullets a minute. Although not an original idea, Gatling's design was better than those of other inventors and it was adopted by several armies from 1866. Gatling's other inventions include a screw propeller for ships and a steel & aluminium alloy; he also experimented with cast-steel cannon.

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Keywords: gatling, gun, inventor, jordan, machine, making, metallurgist, pioneer, portraits, richard, steel, surname