William Mills (inventor) William Mills (inventor) Sir William Mills (24 April 1856 - 1932) of Sunderland was an English engineer, who invented the Mills bomb which was developed and manufactured at his factory in Birmingham, England. The Mills bomb was the hand grenade most widely used by British and Imperial forces during the First World War. He was knighted in 1922. William Mills was born on 26 April 1856 in Wear Street, Southwick, Sunderland. He was the son of David Mills, a shipbuilder, and his wife Sarah Ann Kirkaldy. The Sunderland historian James Watson Corder recorded that David Mills had an interest in
Avondale Mills the sources of raw materials made economic sense. The industry gained a foothold prior to the Civil War as mills began opening. In 1860, 1,312 people were employed in textile mills in Alabama. That number plummeted, however, following the war. By 1870, only 744 people were employed in textile mills. The family contacted the Birmingham Commercial Club, that would later become the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, "...which had been organized in 1887 to encourage trade and create more economic diversification..." in the extraction focused Birmingham region. The Commercial Club agreed to invest $150,000 (~$4.5 million adjusted for inflation), and civic