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Samuel Colt factfile

by · 19/07/2014

Samuel Colt, gun, pistol, revolver, six chamber, 19 July 1814, 10 January 1862, $15m, $350m, American Civil War1. Samuel Colt was born on 19 July 1814 in Hartford, Connecticut. He was a keen engineer from a young age, but got expelled from Amherst Academy at the age of 16

2. He was inspired to invent the six-barrel cylinder gun by observing a ship’s wheel in action.

3. His revolving-chamber pistol was patented in Europe before the USA, in 1835 and 1836 respectively.

4. He got his big break by supplying guns to the US government and then both sides of the American Civil War

5. At the time of his death on 10 January 1862 he was worth $15m, around $350m in today’s money. He died aged just 47.