An invention at the heart of our modern world helped create radios, cars and smartphones. The team from Planet Money traces the origins back to a fight over who invented the sewing machine.

IN Cornhill, Boston, thirty years ago, there was a shop for the manufacture and repair of nautical instruments and philosophical apparatus, kept by Ari Davis. Mr. Davis was a very ingenious mechanic, ...

Early efforts -- Elements of a successful machine -- The "Sewing-Machine Combination" -- Less expensive machines -- Appendixes: Notes on the development and commercial use of the sewing machine -- ...

We're relying on the experts to answer this one and who better than the folks from the International Sewing Machine Collectors' Society? Historians of the sewing machine's early days can argue for ...

I'm thankful I was born in the 20th century, well after sewing machines went into mass production. They've come a long way from hand cranks and treadles to electronic and computerized models. For a ...

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