Hiram Percy Maxim, a renaissance man, revolutionized multiple industries, including automobiles and firearms, by inventing the silencer, a device that suppresses sound. His design, patented in 1909, was initially marketed as a civilian product for sporting guns, but it became highly regulated in 1934. Today, silencers are still misunderstood, and their purpose is often misinterpreted, but Maxim's invention remains a significant contribution to the history of firearms and noise suppression.
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