Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe ODD HISTORY H.S. Maxim's mark in history is that of the inventor of the machine gun. Automatic weapons were new to the world in World War I. Both sides used the Maxim guns to make light work of mowing down a horrific number of troops. The losses were staggering and the war pretty much a stalemate until the British and their tanks made the scene. Advertisement Well, here's the interesting back-story. Maxim was an inventor and arch-rival of Edison. You know, the light bulb. If Edison had his way, we would be calling the bulb a mazda. Edison eventually set up the Edison Mazda Company. Mazda means light -- take a close look at the corporate logo on the car of the same namesake: a stylized light bulb. Meanwhile, back to when Maxim and Edison were rivals. Edison was an (let's put this delicately) aggressive, shrewd businessman as well as inventor. He wanted to eliminate the competition, so dealt with Maxim by paying him $20,000 a year and asking him to leave the country. Maxim reluctantly took the offer. Let's consider that Edison electrocuted dogs to show the dangers of rival Tesla's alternating current and leave it at that. Advertisement Maxim went to England and was promptly bored. A friend quipped (and we paraphrase) "...these Europeans are always shooting each other. Why don't you invent something to help that along?" In 1909, the Maxim model 1909 was in the Serbian army inventory. Sales were brisk to both sides of the warring alignments. Blame Edison? Hmmm? General Electric was a child of the Edison companies: they're a major vendor of defense materials and equipment. Hmmm -- again. Send your ideas and comments to [email protected]
