Editing Samuel Colt (section)

{{Short description|American industrialist and inventor (1814–1862)}}
{{Other people}}
{{More citations needed|date=March 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Samuel Colt
| image              = Samuel Colt engraving by John Chester Buttre, c1855.jpg
| image_size         = 
| caption            = Engraving by [[John Chester Buttre]], {{circa|1855}}
| birth_date         = {{birth date|mf=yes|1814|07|19}}
| birth_place        = [[Hartford, Connecticut]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{death date and age|mf=yes|1862|01|10|1814|07|09}}
| death_place        = Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.
| resting_place      = [[Cedar Hill Cemetery, Hartford, Connecticut]], U.S.
| occupation         = Inventor, industrialist, businessman, hunter
| spouse             = [[Elizabeth Hart Jarvis]] (m. 1856–1862)
| relatives          = {{Unbulleted list|[[John C. Colt]] (brother)|[[Caldwell Hart Colt]] (son)|[[Samuel P. Colt]] (nephew)|[[Roswell L. Colt]] (cousin)}}
| awards             = [[Telford Medal]]
| signature          = Samuel Colt signature 1855.svg
}}

'''Samuel Colt''' ({{IPAc-en|k|oʊ|l|t}}; July 19, 1814&nbsp;– January 10, 1862) was an American inventor, industrialist, and businessman who established [[Colt's Manufacturing Company|Colt's Patent Fire-Arms Manufacturing Company]] and made the [[mass production]] of [[revolver]]s commercially viable.

Colt's first two business ventures were producing firearms in [[Paterson, New Jersey]], and making underwater mines; both ended in disappointment. His business expanded rapidly after 1847, when the [[Texas Ranger Division|Texas Rangers]] ordered 1,000 revolvers during the [[Mexican–American War|American war with Mexico]]. During the [[American Civil War]], his factory in Hartford supplied firearms both to the [[Union (American Civil War)|North]] and the [[Confederate States of America|South]]. Later, his firearms were used widely during the settling of the [[American frontier|western frontier]]. When Colt died in 1862, he was one of the wealthiest men in the United States. 

Colt's manufacturing methods were at the forefront of the [[Industrial Revolution]]. His use of [[interchangeable parts]] helped him become one of the first to make efficient use of the [[assembly line]] manufacturing process. Moreover, his innovative use of art, [[celebrity endorsement]]s, and corporate gifts to promote his wares made him a pioneer in advertising, [[product placement]], and [[mass marketing]].