On this date in 1836, Samuel Colt received a patent for a revolver. His invention enabled a handgun to be fired multiple times without reloading. He formed a company to produce the gun, but sales were slow. Colt was afraid he would have to go out of business. But then the Army placed an order for 1,000 Colt revolvers. Instead of going out of business, Colt opened the world’s largest armament factory.