On This Day

American inventor Isaac Singer patents his famous sewing machine

Singer Corporation is an American manufacturer of consumer sewing machines, first established as I. M. Singer & Co. in 1851 by Isaac M. Singer with New York lawyer Edward C. Clark.

Singer Corporation is an American manufacturer of consumer sewing machines, first established as I. M. Singer & Co. in 1851 by Isaac M. Singer with New York lawyer Edward C. Clark. Best known for its sewing machines, it was renamed Singer Manufacturing Company in 1865, then the Singer Company in 1963. The global headquarters are based in Nashville, Tennessee. Its first large factory for mass production was built in 1863 in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

Historical Significance

Singer Corporation is an American manufacturer of consumer sewing machines, first established as I.

Key People

Isaac Singer

inventor and businessman

American inventor and businessman

Events Before

  1. Senator Henry Clay drafts the Compromise of 1850 to defuse tensions between slave states and free states over territorie

    Senator Henry Clay drafts the Compromise of 1850 to defuse tensions between slave states and free states over territories won during the Mexican–American War

  2. French writer and playwright Honoré de Balzac marries Ewelina Hańska in Berdyczów, Ukraine

    French writer and playwright Honoré de Balzac marries Ewelina Hańska in Berdyczów, Ukraine

  3. American Union Army General William Tecumseh Sherman (30) weds Eleanor Boyle Ewing in Washington, D.C., until her death

    American Union Army General William Tecumseh Sherman (30) weds Eleanor Boyle Ewing in Washington, D.C., until her death in 1888

  4. Poet Alfred Tennyson (40) weds Emily Sellwood (36)

    Poet Alfred Tennyson (40) weds Emily Sellwood (36)

  5. First public demonstration of ice made via refrigeration by Florida physician John Gorrie

    First public demonstration of ice made via refrigeration by Florida physician John Gorrie

Events After

  1. National debt of Britain and Ireland is £765,126,582

    National debt of Britain and Ireland is £765,126,582

  2. Fugitive slave Frederick Douglass delivers his 'What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?' speech to the Ladies' Anti-Sla

    Fugitive slave Frederick Douglass delivers his 'What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?' speech to the Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society in Rochester, condemning the celebration as a hypocritical sham

  3. Future US President Rutherford B. Hayes (30) weds teetotaler and abolitionist Lucy Webb (21)

    Future US President Rutherford B. Hayes (30) weds teetotaler and abolitionist Lucy Webb (21)

  4. First Chinese immigrants arrive in Hawaii

    First Chinese immigrants arrive in Hawaii

  5. British recognize independence of Transvaal (in South Africa)

    British recognize independence of Transvaal (in South Africa)

More from the 1850s

Frequently Asked Questions

What happened on August 12, 1851?
Singer Corporation is an American manufacturer of consumer sewing machines, first established as I. M. Singer & Co.
Why is American inventor Isaac Singer patents his famous sewing machine significant?
Singer Corporation is an American manufacturer of consumer sewing machines, first established as I.
Who was involved in American inventor Isaac Singer patents his famous sewing machine?
Key figures include Isaac Singer (inventor and businessman).

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