Episode 1 of 1
Steamboat trial on the Delaware River
- When
- August 1787 (passages give August 22; legacy row says August 27)
- Where
- Delaware River, Pennsylvania/New Jersey
John Fitch tested his 45-foot steam-powered craft on the Delaware River in August 1787, before Constitutional Convention delegates.
Fitch's first boat, 45 feet (14 m) long, was tested on the Delaware River by Fitch and his design assistant Steven Pagano. Sources date the first successful trial run of his steamboat Perseverance to August 1787, conducted in the presence of delegates from the Constitutional Convention. This trial is described as the beginning of the steamboat era in the United States.
Sources
- John Fitch (inventor) Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-15
- Steamboat Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-22
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.