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MASONIC PUBLICATIONS ALSO AVAILABLE

The compiler and publisher of this little booklet has available a considerable number of books, booklets, papers and CDs on all subjects that will be of interest to Freemasons. For a full list of available publications please write to : P O Box 1807 Hornsby Westfield NSW 1635 Australia OR EMAIL: [email protected]

Many of the worlds most inventive and outstanding minds who, in their own way, changed the world were also Freemasons. This little publication lists most of them.

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Preface
Most people believe that Freemasonry is a secret society, Part of the reason for this belief is the fact that its history is not really known having been lost in the mists of time and despite the fact that on the internet, there are many hundreds of thousands of pages on the subject, there is really no definitive account of its origin or its influence. What is generally known in a vague sort of way is that many of the worlds great innovators, thinkers and influential leaders have been, or still are , Freemasons. The great inventors of the world, those men who changed history; those original minds, many were Indeed members of the Masonic Order. Many of them are names that most people have never heard of, including todays Freemasons. It is hoped that this little publication will help remedy this issue.

Index of Inventions
Page
Apple Computers Aviation Basketball (The game) Bowie Knife Bifocal Glasses Bleaching of Cloth Brougham Carriage Catheter (flexible) Colt Revolver Copying Machine Electricity (properties) Encyclopdia Britannica Franklin Stove Gas Lighting Gas Meter Gatling Gun Glass Harmonica Greenwich Mean Time Guillotine Hemp Break Machine Hot Air Balloon Ice Rink Internet Lawn Mower (Victa) Lightning Rod Macadam Road Surfacing Marine Steam Ram Motor Cars Omnibus Planetarium Plough (Motor & Steam Driven) Refrigeration Safety Razor Screw Propellor Steam Boat Steering Mechanism 17 16 & 22 13 4 10 7 18 10 6 17 7 19 10 20 20 11 10 8 12 11 13 19 4 21 10 20 11 5, 9, 15 14 7 11 21 11 11 10

Compiled by: Keith Stockley P O Box 1807 Hornsby Westfield NSW 1635 Australia

2012

Stroboscope Telephone Typewriter (Electric) Tyres Wheat Drill Windmill

7 8 12 14 19 11 7

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LAWRENCE HARGRAVES Contents

Page

Page Vannear Bush 4 Samuel C olt 6 J T Desaguliers 7 Sir Stanford Fleming 8 Benjamin Franklin 9 King Camp Gillette 10 Joseph Guillotin 12 Montgolfier bros. 13 George Shillibeer 14 Harry C Stutz 15 James Watt 16 Henry Brougham 18 Robert Thomson 19 Andrew Bell 19 John Loudon McAdam 20 Sir Edward Hallstrom 21 Page 23

Hargraves experimenting with box kites

An Australian aviation pioneer his developments including what is todays modern fuselage construction, curved wing surfaces, propeller and engines., especially the rotary engine. His experiments with monoplane concepts were undertaken 20 years before the Wright brothers. Joined on 2nd
April 1877, the United service Lodge of NSW No. 937 (E.C.)

James Bowie 4 Andr Citron 5 Erasmus Darwin 6 H E Edgerton 8 Henry Ford 9 John Fitch 10 R J Gatling 11 A S G Meucci 12 James Naismith 13 James Smathers 14 Traian Vuia 16 Stephen Wozniak 17 John Boyd Dunlop 18 John Gamgee 19 William Murdock 19 Mervyn Richardson 21 Lawrence Hargraves 22 Alphabetical Index of Inventions

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JAMES JIM BOWIE

Legendary Frontiersman, pioneer, battle hero.

MERVYN VICTOR RICHARDSON

He is the reputed inventor of the Bowie knife ( with help from his brother Rezin) He is something of a folk hero in American cultural history, his fame being born in somewhat violent circumstances when, at the famous brawl known as the Sandbar Fight, he killed the Sheriff of Rapides Parish with an unusually long bladed knife. Whilst many different manufacturers have produced their own version of this blade, Bowie can definitely lay claim to being the original inspiration for the design. Jim Bowie was a member of LHumble Chaumiere Lodge No. 19 at Opelousas, Louisiana.

Australkian engineer invented the first rortary lawnmower known as the Victa Mower. He was a member of Lodge Wentworth No. 89 , joining the lodge on 6 February 1945.

SIR EDWARD JOHN LEES HALLSTROM

VANNEVAR BUSH

Sir Edward Hallstrom with deer at Taronga Zoo, Sydney, Australia \An animal lover, donated all his animals when he died, to
Vannevar Bush with his Differential Analyser

start the Taronga Zoo. He invented the silent Knight refrigerator, gas or electric powered. A member of Lodge Roseville No. 334. Initiated 24 August 1922.

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him, the Murdock Lodge No. 3480 in the Province of Warwickshire. The founding members were all working in the gas industry and decided in 1911 to name the new lodge after William Murdock who was the first man to develop commercial gas lighting. He also invented the gas meter. He also invented the oscillating steam engine.

JOHN LOUDON MCADAM

Vannevar Bush was an American engineer, scientist and the inventor of the first electronic analogue computer. His essay As we may think published in 1945, was like science fiction. It envisaged the technology which today we take for granted, including personal computers, the internet, hypertext, online encyclopdias and speech recognition software. He wielded significant influence with the U.S. Government in military and scientific research. He was even involved in the development of the atomic bomb and was the alleged head of Majestic 12, a secret committee set up by President Harry S Truman. He is often called the man who invented the internet. He was the Wor. Master of the Richard C Maclaurin Lodge in Massachusetts.

ANDR-GUSTAVE CITRON

J L McAdam was a Scottish engineer who invented a method of road making that rendered the road smooth and impervious to water a system more commonly known as macadamising. Although there are no definitive records of his joining Freemasonry it is vehemently stated that he was in fact a member, joining perhaps whilst in the USA.
French industrialist pioneered the modern concept of creating a sales and services network that complements the motor car. In 1919 he started manufacturing motor cars.

1919 Citron A 8cv Torpedo

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Citron earned a reputation for innovation and revolutionary engineering which began when Andr Citron introduced the first industrial mass production of vehicles outside the United States. He then produced Europes first steel-bodied car. In 1934 Citron secured its reputation for innovation and inventiveness with its Traction Avant, the worlds first mass-produced four wheel drive car. In 1954 it produced the worlds first hydro pneumatic selflevelling suspension system then in 1955 produced the first European car with disc brakes and again in 1967 the first swivelling headlights. Andr-Gustave Citron was a member of Lodge La Philosophie in Paris.

JOHN GAMGEE

Prof. John Gamgee invented the first mechanically refrigerated ice rink in 1876. He was a member of the rifle Lodge No. 405 in Edinburgh.

ANDREW BELL SAMUEL COLT

Founder of the Encyclopdia Britannica. Initiated into Lodge St. David No. 36 in Edinburgh.

WILLIAM MURDOCK
American industrialist and inventor, Samuel Colt, is best known for his revolver The Colt 45. He applied for his first patent at the age of 18. This was interestingly enough, a weapon that was of great value to other Freemasons in their revolutionary activities, such as Benito Suarez, Simon Bolivar, Giuseeppe Garibaldi and Sam Houston. Samuel Colt was an active Freemason, A MEMBER OF St. Johns Lodge No. 4, The Pythagoras Chapter No. 17 and the Washington Commandery, all in Hartford, Connecticut.

Whilst there is no evidence that William Murdock was himself a Freemason, There is a Masonic Lodge named after

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HENRY PETER BROUGHAM

ERASMUS DARWIN

Accredited with the invention of the Brougham Carriage, Henry Peter Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux, Lord Chancellor of England, He was raised in Fortrose Lodge in Stormway, Scotland,

JOHN BOYD DUNLOP

The father of Charles Darwin, Erasmus Darwin invented the following: horizontal windmill, a carriage that couldnt tip over, a steering mechanism for his carriage ( which is the steering mechanism adopted for us in motorcars, a speaking machine, a canal barge lift, a copying machine, artesian wells, and a variety of weather measuring devices. He was a senior member of Canongate Kilwinning Lodge No. 2.

REV. JOHN THEOPHILUS DESAGULIERS

Inventor of the pneumatic tyre (Dunlop Tyres) Initiated into The Lodge of Harmony CXI in Belfast, Ireland.

ROBERT WILLIAM THOMSON

Invented an inflatable/pneumatic tyre 43 years earlier than Dunlop. Held to be a Freemason although I have been unable to locate definite evidence of this.

Well known in international Freemasonry as the 3rd Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of England, few know that apart from being a man of the cloth, he was also involved with the Royal Society of London which organisation awarded him its highers honest, the Copley medal, no less than three times, in 1734, 1736 and 1741, this last award involving the discovery of certain properties of electricity.. He is credited with the invention of the planetarium and also remembered as the man who took the steam engine design a step forward by the addition of a safety valve.

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HAROLD EUGENE EDGERTON

James Watt was a Scottish mechanical engineer and inventor. He was involved in a very early version of a copying machine and the bleaching of cloth by using chlorine, but he is venerated for his development of fundamental improvements on the steam engine. He was a member of Ancient Union and Princes Lodge.

50 Second strobe cycle

Dr Edgerton in his lab with the stroboscope

Harold Edgerton was probably the worlds greatest expert on specialised photography. He developed the Rapatronic Camera used to photograph and record atomic tests, but especially famous for his perfecting of the stroboscope system in which he is regarded as a pioneer. Dr. Edgerton was a member of the Acacia Fraternity, raised in Aurora Lodge No. 68 in Aurora, Nebraska and a member of Richard C Maclaurin Lodge in Cambridge, Maryland.

STEPHEN GARY WOZNIAK SIR SANDFORD FLEMING

Inventor of standard mean time, now commonly known as Greenwich Mean Time,. He was a member of St. Andrews Lodge No. 16 in Ontario, Canada.

Together with Steve Jobs and Ronald Wayne founded Apple Computer, An American computer engineer he singlehandedly created Apple I and Apple II computers. He is a member of Charity Lodge No. 362, Campbell, CA, His wife is a member of the Eastern Star.

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TRAIAN VUIA

HENRY FORD

Traian Vuia in his flying machine 18 March 1906

Traian Vuia was a Romanian inventor and his self propelled, fixed wing aircraft flew 39 feet in 1906. He became a French citizen in 1919, It is reported that in the3 wake of WWI, Vuia was part of a small group of Freemasons who travelled to the Peace Conference in Paris to facilitate links with Paris Ernest Renan Lodge.

JAMES WATT

The industrialist who founded the Ford Motor Company, He was responsible for the introduction of the assembly line technique of mass production. His Model T automobile revolutionised transportation and American industry. He had a global vision with consumerism as the key to peace. His commitment to systematically lowering costs resulted in many technical and business innovations including a franchise system that put dealerships in place in major cities on six continents. He was raised in Palestine Lodge No. 357 Detroit on 28 November 1894. he was also a member of Zion Lodge No. 1.

DR. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

Franklin at work on a printing press

Benjamin Franklin, one of Americas greatest statesmen was, amoingst many other things, a prodigious inventor.

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Included in his inventions are the lightning rod, glass harmonica, the Franklin stove, bifocal glasses, a flexible urinary catheter as well as social innovations. In 1731 he was initiated into St. Johns Lodge in Philadelphia and appointed Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Philadelphia in 1934.

HARRY C STUTZ

JOHN FITCH

Schematic of John Pitchs piston

John Fitchs revolutionary design for propelling a boat without water was granted a US patent on 26 August 1791. Four years earlier on 22 August 1787 he demonstrated his invention, the first successful steamboat on the Delaware river. He was a member of Bristol Lodge No. 25 PA.

Motor car magnate, Harry Stutz, creator of the Stutzmobile, A member of the Ancient Landmarks Lodge No. 319, RAM, Knights templar and a member of the Murat Shrine Temple, all in Indianapolis.

KING CAMP GILLETTE

Stutz at Indianapolis 1912

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GEEORGE SHILLIBEER

It is not unreasonable to claim that King Camp Gillette the inventor of the safety razor, changed the world with his cheap, disposable safety razor. He was granted US Patent No. 775134 on 15 November 1904. He was a member of Adelphi Lodge in Quincy, Massachusetts and was an affiliate of the Columbian Lodge in Boston.

A coach maker in Bloomsbury, George Shillibeer invented and built the first two omnibuses in England, He also invented an undertakers vehicle which combined a hearse and a mourning coach. He was initiated on 25 February 1827 into Etonian Lodge, at Windsor and also affiliated in 1829 to Globe Lodge No. 23 in London.

RICHARD JORDAN GATLING

JAMES FIELD SMATHERS

Dr Richard Gatling was a prolific inventor. His inventions include a screw propeller and wheat drill in 1839, hemp break machine in 1850, steam plough 1857, the Gatling Gun 1861, marine steam ram and motor driven plough in 1862. He was a member of Center Lodge No. 23 Indianapolis, Indiana.

Inventor of the worlds first electric typewriter. James Smathers was a member of Gate City Lodge no. 522, Kansas City.

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JOSEPH-IGNACE GUILLOTIN

THE MONTGOLFIER BROS.

Inventor of the guillotine, this French physician did not, contrary to popular belief, invent the guillotine, even though it is popularly named after him. It is true that he was the first to suggest the device. He was a member of the famous Paris Loge Les Noef Soeurs.

Joseph-Michel Montgolfier

Jacques-tienne Montgolfier

ANTONIO SANTI GIUSEPPE MEUCCI

The Montgolfier Bros. invented the hot air balloon and the first manned ascent with tienne aboard, flew on 4 June 1783.. Both brothers were members of the Paris Loge Des Neuf Soeurs, Jacques being initiated in 1784 and his brother in 1806.

JAMES A NAISMITH
It is widely believed that the telephone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell. In 2002 the US Congress, 113 years after the death of Antonio Meucci, officially recognised that Bell was not the inventor and that Meucci was in fact that man. He discovered the principle of the telephone in 1849 and developed a working model in 1859. There is no written proof of his membership of Freemasonry, but as a result of his very close friendship with Giuseppe Garibaldi, who went through all three Masonic degrees in Tompkins Lodge 401, Staten Island it is confidently believed that Antonio Meucci was on the square.

The Canadian sports coach who invented the game of basketball. He was initiated in 1894 into Roswell lee Lodge in Springfield, Ma and affiliated to Lawrence Lodge No. 6 in Kansas of which lodge he was the Wor. Master 1927/28.