U.S. Patent No. 37,637 - Dubois D. Parmelee - 10 February 1863
The large
number of amputees which resulted from the Civil War stimulated the
development of more functional lower-limb prostheses. This notable
patent featured an improvement in the method of attachment - a
custom-moulded suction cup - which eventually became accepted - but 90
years later. The idea came from the same inventor who was the first to
patent a key-operated adding machine.
