Robert fulton born and died

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Working for the Duke of Bridgewater between 1796 and 1799, he had a boat constructed in the Duke's timber yard, under the supervision of Benjamin Powell. From 1811 until his death, Fulton was appointed by the Governor of New York, a member of the Erie Canal Commission.

Fulton's final design was the floating battery "Demologos" the world's first steam-driven warship built for the United States Navy for the War of 1812.

These oars paddled in a manner similar to the motion of a swimming duck's feet. The former painter had shipped a small steam engine from England and constructed a hull similar to that of fast ocean- going ships. He had been walking home on the frozen Hudson River when one of his friends, Addis Emmet, fell through the ice. Symington had successfully tried steamboats in 1788, and it seems probable that Fulton was aware of these developments.

The first successful trial run of a steamboat had been made several years earlier by inventor John Fitch, (1743-1798), on the Delaware River on August 22, 1787, in the presence of delegates from the Constitutional Convention, then observing and taking a break from its summer-long sessions at Independence Hall.

His first prototype broke in half and sank in 1803. Although he continued to develop his inventions with the British until 1806, the decisive naval victory by Admiral Horatio Nelson at the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar greatly reduced the risk of French invasion, and Fulton found himself being increasingly ignored.

In 1806, Fulton returned to America and married Harriet Livingston, the niece of Robert Livingston and daughter of Walter Livingston.

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 upstream to the state capital Albany, New York. Rumsey was an inventor from Virginia who ran his own first steamboat up the Potomac River near Shepherdstown, then in Virginia in 1786.

He contracted consumption and died at 49 years old. The following year Fitch launched a 60-foot (18 m) boat powered by a steam engine driving several stern mounted oars.

Among his inventions were the world's first modern naval "torpedoes" (modern "mines"), which were tested, along with several other of his inventions, during the 1804 Raid on Boulogne, but met with limited success. In the hull, he placed the engine, and on each side, a primitive paddle wheel. In 1797 he went to Paris where his fame as an inventor was well known.

At the test in 1807, the "Clermont" initially failed; however, after a few adjustments to the engine, the boat carried on its way to Albany, arriving thirty-two hours later. He is buried in the Trinity Church Cemetery for Trinity Church (Episcopal) at Wall Street in New York City, alongside other famous Americans such as former U.S. Secretaries of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton and Albert Gallatin.

Fulton later met West in England and they became friends.

Fulton stayed in Philadelphia for six years, where he painted portraits and landscapes, drew houses and machinery, and was able to send money home to help support his mother. After installation of the machinery supplied by the engineers Bateman and Sherratt of Salford, the boat was duly christened "Bonaparte" in honour of Fulton having served under Napoleon.

At age 23 he decided to visit Europe.

Education and work

Fulton took several letters of introduction to Americans abroad from the individuals he had met in Philadelphia. Fulton became very enthusiastic about the canals and in 1796 wrote a treatise on canal construction, suggesting improvements to locks and other features. He had at least three sisters – Isabella, Elizabeth, and Mary, and a younger brother, Abraham.

He asked the government to subsidize its construction but he was turned down twice. The street where his panorama was shown is still called "'Rue des Panoramas'" (Panorama Street) today.

Fulton designed the first working submarine, the "Nautilus" between 1793 and 1797, while living in France.