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What if Hiram Maxim had patented the light bulb in the United States and/or United Kingdom instead of Thomas Edison and Joseph Swan? Would he still emigrate to the United Kingdom in 1881, or might he stay in the United States to collaborate with his brother Hudson Maxim (developer of smokeless powders) and son Hiram Percy Maxim (developer of combustion engines, automobiles, silencers/mufflers, and the radio relay system)? What kind of research might Hiram Maxim and/or his family pursue with the lucrative revenue stream provided by the light bulb patent and other improvements? Might they establish a company that branches out from Maxim guns and Nordenfeldt guns into other armaments, perhaps even becoming a leader in the aviation industry?