What are all the inventions of Eli Whitney?

Answer 1

Eli Whitney had been fascinated with improving industrial processes from a very early age, and he eventually dedicated his life to improving the productivity of the American workforce. Some of his most notable inventions include:

• The Cotton Gin - likely his most famous invention, and the only one for which he received a patent. Whitney is said to have solved the problem of the laborious harvesting of "green seed" cotton within ten days of learning it existed. There is some contention over who exactly suggested the wire brush portion of the machine that ultimately made it succeed, but it's generally accepted that his overall design and marketing thereof is what changed the cotton industry forever.
• Nail Making Machine - Whitney's first invention. He devised this while working as a blacksmith sometime in the late 1700s.
• Milling Machine - Whitney cannot necessarily receive full credit for this invention, as a few of his conemporaries were working on similar machines at the same time. However, it is generally accepted that Whitney is responsible for helping develop the earliest of "modern" milling machines.
• Interchangeable Parts - another invention not entirely of Whitney's design, interchangeable parts have origins dating back as far as the Punic Wars in the 3rd century BC. It was Whitney, however, who developed and popularized this idea in the new industrial era. He earned a government contract for 10,000 flint-lock muskets utilizing this revolutinary method.
• Prototype gun locks - Whitney is also responsible for some early gun locking mechanisms, although this is another idea that was likely being developed by many different men at once.

After his cotton gin was pirated and his faith in patent system all but destroyed following over a decade of legal battles centered on this theft, Whitney never patented another invention. It is certain that he contributed many innovations to manufacturing since then, and he is generally well-remembered as a fair leader genuinely concerned about the productivity and well-being of the average worker. Indeed, some of his inventions helped create thousands of jobs in production where demand simply did not exist before.

Of course, as with all famous historical figures, there is a certain level of contention over exactly how successful Whitney was and how many idea attributed to him alone deserve to be credited to others, as well. But, that doesn't change the fact that he did contribute to the Industrial Age in many ways.
Cotton gin and musket maker

Answer 2

His most noted invention was the cotton gin but he also invented interchangable parts and the milling machine.