Samuel Colt
"God created men, Samuel Colt made them equal."
Samuel Colt was born on July 19, 1814 in Hartford, Connecticut. Samuel Colt is most known for his biggest achievement, the revolving pistol. On February 25, 1836, Colt received the patent for his revolver, named the Colt Paterson. This was the first reliable handgun to be able to shoot more than one bullet without having to reload. Colt based this design off of a rotating flintlock pistol that was created earlier. However with the new technology of percussion caps, the Colt Paterson was far more advanced. This pistol made it's way into history, and became the most famous handgun of all time. In the late 1800's of the mid west it was the primary weapon of the cowboys. Even today it is seen in thousands of movies. Just about everyone in the U.S. knows about the Colt revolver. It is still a very popular gun today among gun collectors, and arguably one of the most fun to shoot. After Samuel made his first revolver, he wanted to bring his ideas to the market. Colt began selling his firearms, and in 1847 the legendary Samuel Walker of the Texas Rangers wanted Colt's revolvers. However, Samuel Walker wanted improvements to the gun, including being able to hold six bullets, shoot at a higher velocity, and be faster to reload. With this order Colt made 1,000 of these revolvers for the Texas Rangers. This was another important achievement of Colt's. The Texas Rangers were legendary soldiers, and now they wielded Samuel Colt's revolver. With the money made from this order, Colt built his first factory, Colt's Patent Fire-Arms Manufacturing Company in Hartford. And thus Colt continued making and selling his legendary Colt revolver until his death on January 10, 1862. After he died, his estate was estimated to be worth $15 million, or $350 million by today's standards.