Isaac Babbitt

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Isaac Babbitt (July 26, 1799 – May 26, 1862) was an American inventor who created Babbitt metal, a tin-based bearing material still used in engines today. He was born in Taunton, Massachusetts, and worked as a goldsmith, experimenting with metal alloys. In 1824 he made the first Britannia metal manufactured in the United States and sold tableware under Babbitt, Crossman & Company, but the venture was not financially successful. He moved to Boston in 1834 and became superintendent of the South Boston Iron Company (Alger's foundries), where he helped produce the first brass cannon in the United States. In 1839 he invented Babbitt metal, an alloy of copper, antimony, and tin, used to reduce friction in axles of heavy machinery. For this work he received a gold medal in 1841 from the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association, and Congress later gave him $20,000. He also patented the alloy in England (1844) and Russia (1847). He died in Somerville, Massachusetts, on May 26, 1862, at age 62.