September 10: Elias Howe

September 10: On this date in 1846, a penniless inventor, Elias Howe, was issued patent 4750 for his invention of a sewing machine that created a lockstitch; his invention would go on to revolutionize clothing manufacture and make him a millionaire.

September 9: Edward Sewall Sanford

September 9: Edward Sewall Sanford, who brought his experience as the president of the American Telegraph Company to the Union Army, serving as a colonel supervising telegraphs, died on this date in 1882.

September 8: Harold Hartshorne

September 8: Harold Hartshorne was born on this date in 1891; he became the United States Ice Dancing champion five times, then a skating judge, but died when the United States Figure Skating Team was wiped out in a 1961 plane crash.