| − | Eli Whitney was born on December 8, 1765 in Westborough, Massachusetts. He was an American inventor who patented the cotton gin on March 14, 1794. In 1798, he built a factory that made guns by machinery. This marked the beginning of mass production in the United States. Whitney made machines that created interchangeable parts for guns; you could take a part off of one gun and it would fit into another. | + | Eli Whitney was born on December 8, 1765 in Westborough, Massachusetts. He was an American inventor who patented the cotton gin on March 14, 1794. In 1798, he built a factory that made guns by machinery. Whitney made machines that created interchangeable parts for guns; you could take a part off of one gun and it would fit into another. This marked the beginning of mass production in the United States. |