Industrial Revolution: Isaac Merritt Singer invents the famous automatic sewing machine. When he moves to Boston, he realizes what’s wrong with the machine produced at the Phelps factory. The needle must be straight, not curved, and the shuttle must be positioned askew; finally, the machine must be operated by foot, not by hand. Singer fathers a total of 24 children with five different women, one of whom accuses him of bigamy, forcing him to flee the United States. Like his contemporary Marx, he is not an affable man; like Marx, he is of Jewish origin; and like Marx, he will change the world, but for the better.
