science · 13 April 1771 · 253 years ago
birth
Born 13 Apr 1771; died 22 Apr 1833 at age 62.
English mechanical engineer and inventor who successfully harnessed high-pressure steam and constructed the world's first steam railway locomotive (1803). In 1805 he adapted his high-pressure engine to driving an iron-rolling mill and to propelling a barge with the aid of paddle wheels. He also experimented with a steam carriage as a road locomotive. In 1812, he invented the Cornish boiler in which the hot flue gasses could also be used to heat the water, so improving efficiency. Trevithick's combined improvements made the new design of Cornish engine do double or treble the duty of the James Watt type, and so they supplanted them as the Watt type had supplanted the Newcomen styles. Lacking business acumen, he died in poverty.
OnThisDay.net