Robert Fulton

He tied the nuptial knot with Harriet Livingstone in 1806. They had four children whose names were Robert, Julia, Mary and Conelia.

In 1815, when he was trying to rescue his friend from the frozen Hudson River, he got soaked with icy water and later developed pneumonia. He passed away on account of his illness.

In 1816, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania donated a marble statue of Fulton to the National Statuary Hall Collection in the US Capitol Building.

As the son of Irish immigrants, Robert Fulton was born in Little Britain, Pennsylvania, US. He grew up with his three sisters and a brother. His father worked at farming.

His family lost their farm in 1771, and shifted to Lancaster where his father passed away in 1774. He received his early education at home. Later, he studied at a Quaker school.

He worked as an apprentice in a jewellery shop in Philadelphia. Here he became an expert in creating painting of miniature portraits on ivory for designing lockets and rings.

During his stay in Philadelphia, he came in contact with Benjamin Franklin and several personalities of Revolutionary War. At that time, he planned to visit Europe. He went to London in 1787.

In London, with the assistance of Benjamin West, an Anglo-American painter, he received several commissions of painting portraits and landscapes. Although he managed some success, he didn’t see a great future from himself in painting.

In 1794, he decided to concentrate on canal engineering. His first assignment was to design a canal system to replace the locks that were then in use.

In 1796, he published 'Treatise on the Improvement of Canal Navigation', which dealt with a complete system of inland-water transportation based on small canals extending throughout the countryside. He also patented a dredging machine and several other inventions.

BBC children’s television portrayed the character of this extremely talented personality through its popular programs like ‘Triton’ and ‘Pegasus’. The album titled ‘Holland’ by The Beach Boys, mentions the name of this gifted engineer through its song ‘Steamboat’.