A steamboat is a boat propelled by steam power, usually by paddle wheels or a propeller. Early experiments in the 18th century included the Pyroscaphe, a vessel built by the Marquis de Jouffroy d'Abbans that steamed up the Saône at Lyon in 1783, and John Fitch's boats on the Delaware in the 1780s. The first commercially successful service was started by Robert Fulton, whose Clermont ran between New York and Albany in 1807. Steamboats then spread quickly on rivers and lakes, especially the Mississippi and its tributaries, making it possible to travel upstream cheaply. They changed trade and settlement patterns before being surpassed by railroads and larger steamships.
Before and after
- 2 June 1782Founding of Bank of Spain
- 27 October 1782Birth of Niccolò Paganini
- 5 December 1782Birth of Martin Van Buren
- 1783Discovery of tellurium
- 1783Steamboat
- 1783Discovery of tungsten
- 23 January 1783Birth of Stendhal
- 3 April 1783Birth of Washington Irving
- 24 July 1783Birth of Simón Bolívar
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The era
This moment belongs to the Industrial era (1760 CE to 1914 CE), steam, factories and revolutions. You can also browse everything in the 18th century.