February 25, 1890 - Jan Earnst Matzeliger of Lynn, Massachusetts posthumously received patent number 421,954 for his nailing machine. His machine improved the process of receiving tacks and nails in bulk and separating and discharging them ...one at a time. Matzeliger was born September 15, 1852 in Paramaribo, Dutch Guyana (now Suriname). After working as a sailor, he settled in the United States at the age of 19. By 1877, he had moved to Lynn, Massachusetts and was working for a cobbler. After five years of work, he received patent number 274,207 March 20, 1883 for his automatic method for lasting shoes. His machine could produce shoes ten times faster than working by hand and resulted in a more than 50% reduction in the cost of shoes. Matzeliger never saw the profits of his inventions due to his death August 24, 1889. He also posthumously received patent numbers 415,726 November 26, 1889 for a mechanism for distributing tacks and nails, 423,937 March 25, 1890 for a tack separating and distributing mechanism, and 459,899 September 22, 1891 for a lasting machine. In 1991, the United States Postal Service issued a commemorative postage stamp in recognition of his accomplishments and in 2006 he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

 

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