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
Science and invention in Birmingham corrosion and increasing its resistance to wear. Parkerizing is commonly used on firearms. 1907: Accles & Pollock produce the first tubular sections for aircraft and the first tubular furniture. 1908: Pockley Automobile Electric Lighting Syndicate markets the world's first electric car lights to be sold as a set, which consist of headlights, sidelights and tail lights and are powered by an 8 volt battery. 1910: J. R. R. Tolkien begins to construct his first Elfin tongue whilst a pupil at King Edward's School, Birmingham. He later calls it Qenya (c. 1915). Tolkien is already familiar with Latin, Greek, Spanish, and