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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Delmer, post: 241685, member: 8219&quot;]Thers really alot to tell, but in short, he was born about 20 miles from me, in southeastern PA, he lived during the time of Jefferson etc (adult in 1780&#039;s to 1800s).. He started out being an artist who was classically trained overseas, then took interest in engineering and inventing.&nbsp; He&#039;s admired by people like me for his free thinking. He is mostly known for making&nbsp; the first successful commercially applied steamboat (some say he invented the steamboat, but there are earlier cases of people &quot;trying&quot; and succeeding to a degree)&nbsp; He is the undisputed trigger for an explosion in USA commerce as his steamboats opened up the country with viable long-distance travel.&nbsp; It is noted that he had his success because of his association with backers and influential folks of the day such as a frenchman named Livingston who had an estate in NJ called &quot;clermont&quot; after which Fulton&#039;s first steamboat was named (re-named.. Fulton had another name for it and it has been said that Clermont was a re-name.. the spelling of which is not totally agreed upon either)... thus is admired for his business skills, even though he was mostly a &#039;hands on&quot; person and not a politician.&nbsp; He negotiated and defended a monopoly on steamboat use in the hudson for 10 years.. after which competition greatly helped open up local travel at compeditive prices. He started work on the design of USA&#039;s fleet of steam submarines but died a couple years (of basically a FLU after working in the rain on the project) into the project and I beleive never saw one get comissioned and underway.&nbsp; He made a impact on the shape of the country but isn&#039;t as well known as those around him that we all know.&nbsp;&nbsp; To this day there is a controversy as to his likenesses that are used in various images commemorating him.. but the most accepted is the wiley-haired not-so-handsome version (like my pieces).&nbsp; You&#039;ll find him not only in tokens, but I think theres some real US halves or $2.5 coins with a face value around.&nbsp; A society of Engineers erected a statue for him overlooking the river some years ago.</p><p><br /></p><p>Edit, I forgot to include Hudson..&nbsp; I have not spent so much time on him.. I have common knowledge only, He navigated up the Hudson river all the way and I think mapped it.&nbsp; Imagine discovering a river that was named the same as you!&nbsp; <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>I&#039;m no historian, I just read alot and globbed it all together <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie2" alt=";)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>I think I have all that right.&nbsp; There is lots of info online.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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