Jacquard << juh KAHRD or zha KAR >>, Joseph Marie (1752-1834), perfected the automatic pattern loom. Jacquard looms could weave cloth with intricate patterns as easily as older looms made plain cloth. Jacquard was born in Lyon, France, the son of a weaver. In 1800, he saw an English journal that offered a prize for a simple pattern loom. He resolved to invent one for France. His first try won a medal at an industrial exhibition in 1801, and he was taken to the Paris Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers to improve it. By 1804, he had perfected a loom action that has remained essentially the same.
