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Interesting US History
A Website Devoted to Interesting Events in U.S. History

 

 
 

 

ON THIS DAY IN UNITED STATES HISTORY

August 26, 1791

American Inventor John Fitch is Granted
a United States Patent for the Seamboat

On this day in 1791, the American inventor, silversmith and clockmakter John Fitch was granted a United States patent for th Steamboat. Four years earlier, Fitch had demonstrated a forty-five foot steamboat in front of delegates from the Constitutional Convention.

Although Fitch held the patent, it wasn't until after his death that American inventor, Robert Fulton, turned the steamboat into a commercial success. Steamboats made a large contribution to the U.S. economy by transporting agricultural and industrial supplies.