United States patent number 6,469 is for "buoying vessels over shoals." Granted on May 22, 1849, the concept involves equipping large boats with "india-rubber cloth, or another suitable waterproof ...

Massachusetts is home to the oldest drum company in the United States and one of the oldest in the world. Noble and Cooley in Granville, Mass., has been making drums since 1854, catering to some ...

Lincoln was sailing up the Great Lakes on his way home from Congress in 1848 when he witnessed another steamer that was aground. The scene led Lincoln to develop an invention to float ships off shoals ...