<div class="description">
<ul><li><b>Scope and content:</b>  While the later half of the 19th century saw a series of patents for barbed wire, it was this one that has proven to be the most enduring. In 1874 Joseph Glidden, an Illinois farmer, patented an improved design which held the wire barbs in place. Glidden's wire was the leading barbed wire used while the West was being settled; since that time, there has been little change to his innovation.</li>
<li><b>General notes:</b>  Exhibit history: "American Originals," December 1997 - December 1998, National Archives Rotunda, Washington, DC, Exhibit No. 624.0202.</li></ul></div>
<div class="fn value">
Unknown author<span style="display: none;">Unknown author</span> or not provided</div>
24 November 1874<div style="display: none;">date QS:P571,+1874-11-24T00:00:00Z/11</div>
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._National_Archives_and_Records_Administration" class="extiw" title="en:U.S. National Archives and Records Administration">U.S. National Archives and Records Administration</a>