Profile of the Day: Thomas Savery
On this day in 1698, English inventor and engineer Thomas Savery received the patent for the first steam engine. His invention would lead to the first commercially used steam powered engine.
Savery was born to a prominent family in England in 1650. Known to have an interest in engineering, mathematics, and invention, Savery became a military engineer and invented various types of devices. In 1698, he patented an early steam engine that provided a new method for pumping water by fire which could be used for “draining mines, saving towns with water, and for the working of all sorts of mills where they have not the benefit of water nor constant winds.”
Several years later, Savery worked with Thomas Newcomen, who developed a more advanced design of the steam engine powered by atmospheric pressure.
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Image: New York Public Library