X-Patent
On July 31, 1790 inventor Samuel Hopkins of Pittsford, Vermont became the first person to be issued a patent in the United States. His patented invention was an improvement in the "making of Pot Ash by a new apparatus & process." The earliest patent law required that a working model of each invention be produced in miniature.
Alexander T. Brown
Brown and Stillman are well known for their invention of the pneumatic tire for vehicles, patented on December 20, 1892. The tire was manufactured at the Hartford Rubber Works in Hartford, Connecticut in 1895. In July of that year, auto manufacturer, Charles Duryea used the Brown-Stillman tires on his "motorized wagon" and won the $5,000 first prize in the automobile race which was reported as the first automobile race held in the United States. Duryea "covered the distance in 7 hours, 53 minutes at an average speed of .