02 July 2016
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Thomas Savery
Thomas Savery patented the first steam engine on 2 July 1698
On this day in history, 1698: English inventor Thomas Savery patents the first steam engine. It wasn’t without its glitches, however, and the attempt, a few years later, to demonstrate Savery’s claim that it could pump water out of mines resulted in his engine being ‘rent ... to pieces’, due to the pressure of the steam. He was nevertheless an inspiration to inventors who came after him in what was to become the busy era of the 18th century Industrial Revolution.
