約翰‧費區 (John Fitch) 發明蒸汽船而在1791年8月26日得到美國專利

你有沒有做過電動船？你知道讓這些船前進的動力是什麼嗎？在內燃機發明之前，蒸汽是用來讓船發動的主要動力。在1791年8月26日，約翰‧費區因為發明蒸汽船而得到美國專利。他的第一艘展示品是達拉威爾河 (Delaware River) 上45英尺長的船，船上載著參加制憲會議的代表們。費區後來又建了一艘更大的蒸汽船，可以載運乘客與貨物往來費城、賓州，與紐澤西的伯靈頓 (Burlington) 之間。如果從現代的標準來看，第一艘蒸汽船的速度是很慢的：顯然不能拉著人滑水。不過，蒸汽船的發明，對乘客與貨物來說，還是提供了一種新的旅遊方式。


Have you ever ridden in a motor boat? Do you know what makes them move? Before the invention of the internal combustion engine, steam was used to power ships. On August 26, 1791, John Fitch was granted a United States patent for the steamboat. He first demonstrated his 45-foot craft on the Delaware River in 1787 for delegates from the Constitutional Convention. He went on to build a larger steamboat that carried passengers and freight between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Burlington, New Jersey. The first steamboats were slow by modern standards--certainly not fast enough for water-skiing. However, they opened up a new kind of travel for both cargo and passengers.

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