Joseph Marie Jacquard was born in 1752 and will go down in history as a remarkable inventor because of his improvements to the original loom that was created by Jacques de Vaucanson. Some feel he was the first true inventor of the weaver’s loom but he actually did take the original loom and expanded upon the original work of Vaucanson and others.

Joseph Marie Jacquard came from humble beginnings. His father was an impoverished silk weaver and Joseph used to take pleasure in helping his father with his weaving projects. After his father died, Joseph set up his very own silk factory but the business would fail because Jacquard was more interested in improving the tactics used within the weaving processes.

1801 brought Jacquard into an era of invention. His loom was created based on the ideas of the earlier inventions by Vaucanson, Basile Bouchon, and Jean Falcon. He improved upon them greatly.

His first display of his loom was in 1801. Taking the punch card design that Vaucanson had used, the loom was one that had the ability to make the weaving processes much easier and production faster. The loom was also able to offer the weavers the ability to use specific patterns when weaving. This became known as Jacquard weaving. This allowed the ability of yarn control as well as versatility.

In 1801, Jacquard’s original loom was destroyed because of the fear that arose when onlookers decided that the loom would replace the hardworking men and women who needed their jobs. However, after selling his rights to the French Government, Joseph Marie Jacquard was able to live out the rest of his life by reaping what he had sewn. A pension was granted to him by Napoleon for his hard work and invention.