In 1862, an Indianapolis tinkerer named Richard Gatling patented the world's first working machine gun. He hoped his creation would bring a quick end to a bloody Civil War, but he never imagined the horrors it would later unleash. Julia Keller, a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer for the Chicago Tribune, has just published a book about Gatling and the times he lived in. It's called Mr. Gatling’s Terrible Marvel: The Gun that Changed Everything and the Misunderstood Genius Who Invented It. Keller says before the Gatling gun, the pace of battle was much slower. Soldiers had to stop and reload their muskets after firing each bullet.
Julia Keller will read from her book about the inventor of the machine gun this evening at the Newberry Library in Chicago.
Music Button: Dominic Frontiere, “ Hang ‘Em High”, from the CD Hang ‘Em High Original Soundtrack, (Ryko records)