From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Robert Fulton
Robert Fulton
Robert Fulton Personal information Name Nationality Birth date Birth place Date of death Place of death Parents Work Significant projects steamboat, submarine Robert Fulton American November 14, 1765 Lancaster County, Pennsylvania February 24, 1815 New York City Robert Fulton, Mary Smith
Robert Fulton (November 14, 1765 - February 24, 1815) was an American engineer and inventor who is widely credited with developing the first commercially successful steamboat. He also designed a new type of steam warship. In 1800 he was commissioned by Napoleon Bonaparte to design the Nautilus, which was the first practical submarine in history.[1]
where Fulton was an apprentice. Rumsey was an inventor from Virginia who ran his own first steamboat in Shepherdstown (now in West Virginia) in 1786 and repeated his attempt on December 3, 1787. As early as 1793 Fulton proposed plans for steam-powered vessels to both the United States and British governments, and in England he met the Duke of Bridgewater, whose canal was used for trials of a steam tug, and who later ordered steam tugs from William Symington. Symington had successfully tried steamboats in 1788, and it seems probable that Fulton was aware of these developments. In 1797, Fulton went to France, where Claude de Jouffroy had made a working paddle steamer in 1783, and commenced experimenting with submarine torpedoes and torpedo boats. Fulton is the inventor of the first panorama to be shown in Paris, which was complete by 1800. The street where his panorama was shown is still called "’Rue des Panorames’" (Panorama Street) today.[2]
Early life
Robert Fulton was born in a part of Little Britain Township, Pennsylvania that was separated as Fulton Township in 1844. He grew up in a small, two-story, gray stone house. Fulton had become interested in steamboats in 1777 when he visited William Henry of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, who had earlier learned about James Watt’s steam engine on a visit to England. Henry had then made his own engine and in 1767 he had tried putting his engine in a boat. The experiment was unsuccessful because the boat sank, but his interest continued.
The Nautilus Fulton designed the first working submarine, the Nautilus between 1793 and 1797, while living in France. He asked the government to subsidize its construction but he was turned down twice. Eventually he approached the Minister of Marine himself and in 1800 was granted permission to build.[3] In France Fulton also met Chancellor Robert R. Livingston who was appointed U.S. Ambassador to France in 1801, and they decided to build a steamboat together and try
Education and work
In 1786, Fulton went to study painting in Paris, and there he met James Rumsey, who sat for a portrait in the studio of Benjamin West
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Robert Fulton
Posthumous honors
Fulton presents his steamship to Bonaparte in 1803 running it on the Seine. Fulton experimented with the water resistance of various hull shapes, made drawings and models, and had a steamboat constructed. At the first trial the boat ran perfectly, but the hull was later rebuilt and strengthened, and on August 9, 1803, this boat steamed up the River Seine. The boat was 66 feet (20.1 m) long, 8 feet (2.4 m) beam, and made between 3 and 4 mph (5 to 6 km/h) against the current. In 1806, Fulton married Chancellor Livingston’s niece Harriet (who was the daughter of Walter Livingston), and they later had four children: Robert, Julia, Mary and Cornelia. In 1807, Fulton and Livingston together built the first commercial steamboat, the North River Steamboat (later known as the Clermont), which carried passengers between New York City and Albany, New York. The Clermont was able to make the 300 mile trip in 62 hours. From 1811 until his death, Fulton was a member of the Erie Canal Commission. Fulton died in 1815. He is buried in the Trinity Church Cemetery in New York City, alongside other famous Americans such as Alexander Hamilton.
The marble statue by Howard Roberts in Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol Building
An 1806 submarine design in cross section by Robert Fulton In 1816, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania donated a marble statue of Fulton to the National Statuary Hall Collection in the US Capitol Building. Fulton was also honored for his development of steamship technology in New York City’s Hudson-Fulton Celebration of 1909. A replica of his first steam-powered steam vessel, the Vermonter, was built for the occasion.
2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A wide number of places are named for Robert Fulton and his inventions, including: • Fulton Township, Lancaster County, PA • Clermont Elementary School, Fulton Township, Lancaster County, PA • Fulton Elementary School, Fulton Township, Lancaster County, PA[4] • Robert Fulton Fire Company, Fulton Township, Lancaster County PA • Robert Fulton Highway, Lancaster County, PA • Fulton Opera House, Lancaster, PA • Robert Fulton Drive in Columbia, Maryland • Fulton Street in Brooklyn • Fulton Street in Manhattan • Fulton Street in Massapequa Park, New York City • Fulton Street in New Orleans • Fulton Street in Alcoa, Tennessee • Fulton Street in San Francisco • Fulton County, Georgia • Fulton County, Indiana • Fulton County, Kentucky • Fulton County, Illinois • Fulton County, Pennsylvania • Fulton County, New York • Fulton, Mississippi • Fulton, Missouri • Fulton, Oswego County, New York • Fulton, Schoharie County, New York • Fultonham, Ohio • Fultonville, New York • Fulton, Maryland
Robert Fulton
• Fulton Hall, State Quad, University at Albany SUN
References
[1] American Treasures of the Library of Congress: "Fulton’s Submarine" [2] Alice Crary Sutcliffe, Robert Fulton and the "Clermont", page 63[1]. [3] Burgess, Robert Forrest (1975). Ships Beneath the Sea. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 9780070089587. http://www.google.ca/ books?id=fDZUAAAAMAAJ&pgis=1. [4] Fulton Elementary School website
External links
• Robert Fulton Birthplace • An article on Fulton and the War of 1812 • A history of the growth of the steamengine • William Symington • A Treatise on the Improvement of Canal Navigation, 1796. From the University of Georgia Libraries in DjVu & layered PDF formats. • A Treatise on the Improvement of Canal Navigation 1796. From Rare Book Room. • CHAPTER XIII: ROBERT FULTON in Great Fortunes, and How They Were Made (1871), by James D. McCabe, Jr., Illustrated by G. F. and E. B. Bensell, a Project Gutenberg eBook. • 1911 Britannica biography
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Fulton" Categories: 1765 births, 1815 deaths, American engineers, American inventors, Submarine pioneers, People from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Erie Canal Commissioners This page was last modified on 20 May 2009, at 02:14 (UTC). All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details.) Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a U.S. registered 501(c)(3) taxdeductible nonprofit charity. Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers
3