# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/john-joseph-merlin
# Generated: 2026-08-14T09:25:26.650Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/john-joseph-merlin"
name: "John Joseph Merlin"
slug: "john-joseph-merlin"
description: "John Joseph Merlin was a Freemason, clock-maker, musical-instrument maker, and inventor from the Prince-Bishopric of Liège in the Holy Roman Empire. He moved to England in 1760. By 1766, he was working with James Cox and creating automatons such as Cox's timepiece and the Silver Swan. By 1773, he was designing and making innovative keyboard instruments. In 1783, he opened Merlin's Mechanical Museum in Princes Street, Hanover Square, London, a meeting-place for the gentry and nobility. In addition to his clocks, musical instruments and automata, Merlin is credited with the invention of inline skates in the 1760s. He was referred to by contemporaries as \"The Ingenious Mechanic\". He was friendly with composer Joseph Haydn."
tagline: "Horologist, inventor"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Jean_Joseph_Merlin_(1735-1803)_Painting_by_Thomas_Gainsborough.jpg?width=1200"
gender: "male"
category:
  name: "Scientists"
  slug: "scientists"
profileType:
  name: "Scientist"
  slug: "scientist"
  entityType: "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q39631"
birthDate: "1735-09-17"
deathDate: "1803-05-04"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           48.26
  momentum:             2.334630350194552
  historical:           10.31155866666667
  currentAttention:     0
  sourceConfidence:     60
  profileCompleteness:  60
  trendDirection:       "STABLE"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
sources:
  - url: "https://wa.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Joseph_Merlin"
    title: "Jean-Joseph Merlin"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AC%D9%88%D9%86_%D8%AC%D9%88%D8%B2%D9%8A%D9%81_%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%B1%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%86"
    title: "جون جوزيف ميرلين"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Joseph_Merlin"
    title: "John Joseph Merlin"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Joseph_Merlin"
    title: "Jean-Joseph Merlin"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Joseph_Merlin"
    title: "John Joseph Merlin"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Joseph_Merlin"
    title: "Jean-Joseph Merlin"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Joseph_Merlin"
    title: "Jean-Joseph Merlin"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://lb.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Joseph_Merlin"
    title: "Jean-Joseph Merlin"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Joseph_Merlin"
    title: "Jean-Joseph Merlin"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Joseph_Merlin"
    title: "Jean-Joseph Merlin"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BD%2C_%D0%96%D0%B0%D0%BD-%D0%96%D0%BE%D0%B7%D0%B5%D1%84"
    title: "Мерлен, Жан-Жозеф"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Joseph_Merlin"
    title: "Jean-Joseph Merlin"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1387606"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Imported from discovery source: wikidata-dump