Also Born on October 27

• Erasmus
  humanist (1466)
• James Cook
  explorer and navigator (1728)
• Niccolò Paganini
  violinist (1782)
• Theodore Roosevelt
  26th U.S. president (1858)
• Emily Post
  etiquette authority (1873)
• Dylan Thomas
  poet (1914)
• Roy Lichtenstein
  painter (1923)
• Sylvia Plath
  poet (1932)
• John Cleese
  actor (1939)
• Maxine Hong Kingston
  writer (1940 )
• Roberto Benigni
  actor and filmmaker (1952)

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As a child he lived in Oswego, N.Y. He patented in 1851 a practical sewing machine that could do continuous stitching. Although he lost a suit for infringement brought by Elias Howe, his company was already so well established that it took the lead in a subsequent combination of manufactures and pooling of patents. Between 1851 and 1865 Singer patented 20 improvements, including the yielding presser foot and a continuous wheel feed.