THE 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL INVENTORS OF ALL TIME

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7 The 100 Most Influential Inventors of All Time 7

Eli Whitney’s cotton gin, shown here, revolutionized the cotton industry by mak-
ing it much easier to separate the cotton from the seed. Getty/HultonArchive

Eli Whitney


(b. Dec. 8, 1765, Westboro, Mass. [now in U.S.]—d. Jan. 8, 1825,
New Haven, Conn., U.S.)

E


li Whitney was an American inventor, mechanical
engineer, and manufacturer, best remembered as
the inventor of the cotton gin but most important for
developing the concept of mass production of inter-
changeable parts.
Whitney’s father was a respected farmer who served as
a justice of the peace. In May 1789 Whitney entered Yale
College, where he learned many of the new concepts and
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