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J. Newton Williams
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Derby Industrialist Was Aviation
Pioneer
Built and piloted America's first "helicopter"
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J. Newton Williams
Industrialist
Inventor of
America's First
Helicopter
In Derby industrialist J. Newton
Williams was a pioneering industrialist with a vision for the future
reflected in his work. Not only did he manufacture his own
typewriter under his name
in Derby, he was also a pioneer in American aviation. As you can see in the story
on the left from the New York
Times, Nr. Newton can lay claim along with Emile Berliner to being the
producer of America's first successful helicopter
flight!
This flight took place before the better known Igor
Sikorsky built his first helicopter in Russia. He did not come to the U.S.
and start producing helicopters for another 30 years!
We want to thank Randy Ritter for some digging in old city directories to discover that Williams
had a residence on Minerva Street in 1906 but moved one street over to
Caroline Street by 1913.
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