Who is the inventor of the ball bearing?  Where did he live?

Greetings Shorepace,
Thanks for asking such an interesting question!  I was surprised to
learn that the original conceiver of the ball bearing was none other
then Italy's Leonardo da Vinci.

" Leonardo exerted himself to find ingenious  techniques of reducing
friction. Here, eight concave-sided spindles rotating  on their own
axes prevent lateral movements by the balls, which, however,  can
rotate freely. The sphere-and-spindle system reduces friction,
allowing  the top platform to turn easily even when carrying a heavy
load."

http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/on-line/invention/leonardo.asp

The first person to actually get a patent for the ball bearing was an
english inventor named Phillip Vaughn.  He obtained a patent for the
ball bearing in 1791.


Sites you might find interesting...

Ask the Editors - Inventor of Ball Bearings
http://www.infoplease.com/askeds/12-7-00askeds.html

Patent Search Results
http://search.globalspec.com/Engineering-search/Patents/ball_bearing

Best,
djbaker-ga


Search Strategy

Inventor ball bearing
://www.google.com/search?q=ball+bearing+inventor&hl=en&safe=off

Really, djbaker-ga, that is very interesting.  I was thinking that
Sachs of Sachs and Fichtel or Fischer of Fiescher Kugellager, both in
Schweinfurt, Germany, must have invented ball bearings.  I learn
something every day.  ;-)