Samuel MoreyBorn 23 Oct 1762; died 17 Apr 1843 at age 80.American inventor that one author called “the Edison of his day.” His inventions include raising water by wind (patented 11 Apr 1796), a rotary steam engine (14 Jul 1815), a fuel-saving fireplace (18 Jan 1813), a tide and current water wheel (13 Mar 1817), and shooting by steam (19 Jan 1819). Morey's earliest patent (26 Jan 1793), one of the first (No. X51) to be issued in the U.S., was for a rotating, steam-powered cooking spit for roasting meat, and was signed by George Washington. His next patent (25 Mar 1795) was for a steam engine to power boats, years before Robert Fulton. He developed a method for production of water gas fuel (a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen from steam passed over heated carbon substances), patented as his “American Water Burner” (11 Dec 1817). On 1 Apr 1826, he was issued the first U.S. patent for an internal-combustion engine titled “Gas or Vapour Engine.”«[Image, drawn for a magazine (1909) is likely (?) from the artist's imagination. Webmaster has not yet found any other likeness on which it could have been based.] |
