J. W. Kennedy
From Kook Science
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James W. Kennedy (b. c. 1880) was an American machinist who, while resident at Mandan, North Dakota in 1913, was reported to have claimed success in the design and construction of a perpetual motion machine, overcoming "gravitation and resistance by a new principle he discovered in mechanics." The Kennedy machine was described as a wheel some 6 ft. (1.83 m.) in diameter with nine spokes, each of these spokes being fitted with a weight that falls to the outer end of the spoke as the wheel turns, moving such that five weights are falling downward at all times.
Press Coverage
- "CLAIMS TO HAVE PERPETUAL MOTION", Bismarck Daily Tribune (Bismarck, ND): 4, 3 July 1913, https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85042242/1913-07-03/ed-1/seq-4/
- "IS THE MANDAN INVENTOR OF PERPETUAL MOTION A WIZARD? J. W. Kennedy Invents Perpetual Motion Machine Which Looks Good, Has Run for Forty Days and Nights Without a Stop to Its Wonderful Action", Bismarck Daily Tribune (Bismarck, ND): 8, 11 Sep. 1913, https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85042242/1913-09-11/ed-1/seq-8/
J. W. Kennedy, a machinist in the Northern Pacific shops at Mandan, has invented a perpetual motion machine which looks like the genuine article. On all time past such inventions have proven flat failures, and when the announcement is made that someone has discovered the real secret, the public is prone to laugh and pass on. A few days ago a Tribune representative went to Mandan where he interviewed Mfr. Kennedy and saw the machine in operation.
It is a wheel of nine spokes and is about six feet in diameter. On each spoke is a weight: which falls to the extreme outer end of the spoke as it passes over center, and the spokes are go arranged as to keep five weights on the downward motion all the time. The machine has run 40 days and nights without stopping and seems to be the real solution of the problem. So exceptional would be the invention if successful that one hesitates in endorsing it, but the demonstration is so convincing that one almost loses his doubt as he sees it plodding away.
Mr. Kennedy is an unassuming man and is without means. He has resigned his position in the shops in order that he may follow up his research and is now watching his wonderful invention day and night to see if it offers any possible chance of balking. A few days ago he took it to Fargo where it is now on exhibition. Mr. Kennedy's mother was born in North Dakota, and so devoted is he to her that he hopes to make a success of his efforts in order that he may be an honor to the state of her birth, and which he has adopted as his home.
If Mr. Kennedy has succeeded in his invention, and it looks like he has, his name will go down in the world’s history with the greatest wizzards of science.
- "IS PERPETUAL MOTION HERE? Has N. D. Man Found Thing World Has Been Looking for?", Fargo Forum and Daily Republican (Fargo, ND): 1, 13 Sep. 1913, https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85042224/1913-09-13/ed-1/seq-1/
- "PERPETUAL MOTION MACHINE. North McGregor Man Invents One That Ran for 41 Days and Nights Without a Hitch.", Decorah Public Opinion (Decorah, IA): 3, 31 Dec. 1913, https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87058235/1913-12-31/ed-1/seq-3/