Porter, Rufus (1792-1884)

US inventor and editor. He invented (but did not patent) numerous devices. In New York, New York, he was editor of the American Mechanic (the first scientific newspaper in the USA) and he began the Scientific American (28 August 1845). He sold the latter within six months and later wrote his scientific prophecy, Aerial Navigation ... New York and California in Three Days (1849).

Porter was born in Boxford, Massachusetts. He left home early and led an eventful, wandering life, playing the fife and violin, and painting portraits. He wandered from Maine to Virginia and back to Connecticut before becoming an editor in New York. He later resumed his wanderings and little is known of the rest of his life.