- published: 12 Aug 2015
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Thomas Blanchard (June 24, 1788 – April 16, 1864) was an American inventor who lived much of his life in Springfield, Massachusetts, where in 1819, he pioneered the assembly line style of mass production in America, and also invented the major technological innovation known as interchangeable parts. Blanchard worked, for much of his career, with the Springfield Armory. In 1825, Blanchard also invented America's first car, which he called a "horseless carriage," powered by steam. During Blanchard's lifetime, he was awarded over twenty-five patents for his creations.
He was born in Sutton, Massachusetts. He had a fondness for mechanical employment, and was associated with his brother in the manufacture of tacks by hand. This process was exceedingly slow and tedious, and his first machine, made and patented in 1806, was a mechanical tack-maker, which could fabricate five hundred tacks per minute, each much better than tacks made by hand. He sold the rights to his machine for $5,000.
Blanchard then turned his attention to gun barrels, and invented a machine tool that streamlined the process of their manufacture. Hired by the Springfield Armory during its construction, Blanchard finished the machine in 1822. The machine turned and finished gun barrels in a single operation; the octagon portion of the barrel was finished by changing the action of the lathe to vibratory motion. This invention was afterward extended to the turning of all kinds of irregular forms. He also developed a copying lathe that traced a model to turn gun stocks, producing the desired contour automatically (1818).
David Leon (born 1980) is an English actor perhaps best known for portraying the character Othello in photographer Rankin's directoral debut "Lives of the Saints", Guy Ritchie's film "Rock'N'Rolla" and British television series Cutting It, set in a Manchester hair-dressing salon.
In 2007 Leon Played Billy the Kid in the acclaimed biopic for the BBC. He also starred in the Channel 4 drama in a lead role of Alfie Cartwright. The film entitled Clapham Junction was directed by Adrian Shergold.
In 2006, he had a main role in the film These Foolish Things, which also starred Terence Stamp, Lauren Bacall and Anjelica Huston. The film's lead actress was Zoe Tapper, who guest-starred in an episode of Cutting It. In 2007, David played Billy the Kid in the BBC's mini series 'The Wild West'. He is also known for his role as Nathan in Boy Eats Girl, a zombie film. In 2010 he played Jesus in Mark Haddon's play Polar Bears at the Donmar Warehouse. He currently resides in London. In 2011 he played DS Joe Ashworth in the ITV detective show Vera along side Brenda Blethyn