← Back to the 365 Library
Contribution #71 of 365
Lewis Temple
Inventor of the Temple Toggle Iron
1848
The contribution
How this work helped shape America
Blacksmith Lewis Temple invented the Temple toggle iron in 1848, an important improvement to the whaling harpoon that held more securely after penetrating a whale. Whalers rapidly adopted his design. Temple improved the existing toggle concept; he did not invent the original harpoon toggle.