A fire on December 15, 1836 destroyed the Patent Office along with many patent documents and models.
Notes on verification
Well-documented by USPTO, National Archives, and Smithsonian sources; consistent details on date, cause, and losses. [tier=silver indep_score=1.0 clusters=2 claim_tier=notable | framework convergence=partial (upstreams: National Archives and Records Administration, Smithsonian Institution, USPTO historical records) — publishers independent, evidence may not be | kind=empirical eligibility=high]
Sources
- Milestones in U.S. patenting | USPTO (seed:firsts_and_inventions)
- https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1996/summer/patent-fires.html (corroboration)
- https://www.si.edu/spotlight/patent-models (corroboration)