INVENTOR

Eli Whitney

1765 - 1825

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Eli Whitney Jr. (December 8, 1765 – January 8, 1825) was an American inventor, widely known for inventing the cotton gin in 1793, one of the key inventions of the Industrial Revolution that shaped the economy of the Antebellum South. Whitney's invention made upland short cotton into a profitable crop, which strengthened the economic foundation of slavery in the United States and prolonged the institution. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Eli Whitney has received more than 2,402,758 page views. His biography is available in 44 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 40 in 2019). Eli Whitney is the 33rd most popular inventor (up from 207th in 2019), the 311th most popular biography from United States (up from 3,006th in 2019) and the 6th most popular American Inventor.

Memorability Metrics

  • 2.4M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 69.43

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 44

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 16.61

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 1.99

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among INVENTORS

Among inventors, Eli Whitney ranks 33 out of 426. Before him are Antonio Meucci, Denis Papin, Steve Wozniak, Joseph Marie Jacquard, Thomas Newcomen, and Nicolas Appert. After him are George Westinghouse, Igor Sikorsky, Robert Fulton, László Bíró, Richard Trevithick, and Adolphe Sax.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1765, Eli Whitney ranks 4. Before him are William IV of the United Kingdom, Pope Gregory XVI, and Nicéphore Niépce. After him are Robert Fulton, Pyotr Bagration, Princess Augusta Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt, Charles Felix of Sardinia, Emma, Lady Hamilton, Paolo Ruffini, Jacques MacDonald, and Karl Ludwig Harding. Among people deceased in 1825, Eli Whitney ranks 7. Before him are Alexander I of Russia, Jacques-Louis David, Antonio Salieri, Henri de Saint-Simon, Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria, and Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies. After him are Pauline Bonaparte, Jean Paul, Henry Fuseli, Dmitry Bortniansky, Laskarina Bouboulina, and Vivant Denon.

Others Born in 1765

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Others Deceased in 1825

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In United States

Among people born in United States, Eli Whitney ranks 311 out of 20,380. Before him are Oliver Hardy (1892), David Woodard (1964), Calvin Coolidge (1872), Billy the Kid (1859), B.B. King (1925), and Norbert Wiener (1894). After him are Rita Hayworth (1918), J. Edgar Hoover (1895), Nina Simone (1933), J. P. Morgan (1837), Claude Shannon (1916), and James Buchanan (1791).

Others born in United States

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Among INVENTORS In United States

Among inventors born in United States, Eli Whitney ranks 6. Before him are Thomas Edison (1847), Henry Ford (1863), Samuel Morse (1791), Samuel Colt (1814), and Steve Wozniak (1950). After him are George Westinghouse (1846), Robert Fulton (1765), Ruth Handler (1916), Jimmy Wales (1966), Willis Carrier (1876), and Herman Hollerith (1860).

American born Inventors

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