Ericsson

(ěriks-sün,) JOHN, a distinguished inventor and engineer, B. in Sweden, 1803; after gaining celebrity in Europe by his caloric engine, screw propeller, and other inventions, arrived in the U. States in 1839, where he brought out a new form of caloric engine the ship Eric on. He was the constructor of the ironclad Monitor, which succe fully opposed the Confederate ram Merrimac in Hampton Roads, in 1862, and completely revolutionized modern naval warfare. [s. 339]