On 27 September 1825 the Stockton and Darlington Railway in north-east England, the first public railway in the world to use steam locomotives, opened to traffic. George Stephenson drove his engine Locomotion No. 1 at the head of a train of wagons carrying coal and flour and about 450 passengers sitting on coal wagons, over a 40-kilometre line from the coal mines of Shildon to Stockton, at up to 24 km/h. Crowds of thousands watched. The line was intended mainly to carry coal, and horses continued to haul passenger carriages for years. Its success led to the Liverpool and Manchester Railway of 1830, and the railway age.
Before and after
- 1825Founding of Miami
- 1825Discovery of bromine
- 4 May 1825Birth of Thomas Henry Huxley
- 26 June 1825Birth of William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin
- 27 September 1825The Stockton and Darlington Railway opens
- 25 October 1825Birth of Johann Strauss II
- from 10 December 1825 to 27 August 1828Cisplatine War
- 26 December 1825Decembrist revolt
- 1826Symphony No. 9
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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 19th century.