John StevensDied 6 Mar 1838 (born 1749).American engineer and lawyer who invented the screw propeller (1802) and the multitubular boiler engine. His Phoenix was the first oceangoing steamboat (1809), and he operated the Juliana, the first steam-boat ferry. His interest in applying steam steam power to transportation began in the late 1780s. Stevens petitioned the U.S. Congress to establish a U.S. patent law (enacted 1790) and registered patents for his improved boiler and engine designs (1792). The sea voyage of the Phoenix paddle-wheel steamboat was from New York City to Philadelphia. On 11 Oct 1811, the Juliana, began operations as a ferry between New York, NY, and Hoboken, NJ. He demonstrated the first steam locomotive in the U.S. on his estate (1825). |
