They went up in smoke exactly 184 years ago.
The first patent issued by the US Patent Office on July 31, 1790 to Samuel Hopkins.
Would you destroy it?
If so, fire away, and let the charge pass through my body.
Fearing condemnation from future generations, the red coats turned away.
Under William Thorntons leadership, the Patent Office underwent steady growth.
It goes without saying, the countrys inventive minds played no small a part in the office’s success.
The Blodget Hotel Building was the office of the US Patent Office until 1836.
After ten years of work, about two thousand patents were recovered, mostly from their original inventors.
But finding out who the inventors were was difficult when all the records were destroyed.
Often times, the record themselves were incomplete and they frequently lacked specifications and drawings.
These patents are known as X-patents.
1 issued to John Ruggles for a new rail-road wheel.
In 2004, fourteen patents turned up in the library of Dartmouth College.
His family had donated the patents to the library.
Many lost patents have ended up in historical archives and academic institutions.
Others are in private collections.
