Who developed and installed the first electric lights in a New York City building?

Hiram Maxim developed and installed the first electric lights in a New York City building (the Equitable Life Building (New York City) at 120 Broadway) in the late 1870s. Also, Maxim is known because invented a curling iron, an apparatus for demagnetising watches, magno-electric machines, devices to prevent the rolling of ships, eyelet and riveting machines, aircraft artillery, an aerial torpedo gun, coffee substitutes, and various oil, steam, and gas engine. Plus, he was the inventor of the Maxim Gun – the first portable, fully automatic machine gun.

Maxim lived from February 5, 1840 until November 24, 1916. He was a British, American born inventor who moved from the United States to the United Kingdom at the age of 41. He remained an American citizen until he became a naturalized British subject in 1900. Maxim died in London in 1916. He is buried in West Norwood Cemetery with his wife and his grandson, Lt. Colonel Maxim Joubert.