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Robert Fulton
- Date of birth: November 14, 1765
- Died: February 24, 1815
- Born: in Little Britain, Pennsylvania, The United States.
- Description: Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information. Robert Fulton (November 14, 1765 – February 24, 1815) was an American engineer and inventor who is widely credited with developing the first commercially successful steamboat. In 1800, he was commissioned by Napoleon Bonaparte to design the Nautilus, which was the first practical submarine in history. He is also credited with inventing some of the world's earliest naval torpedoes for use by the British Navy.Fulton became interested in steamboats in 1777 when he visited William Henry of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, who had earlier learned about James Watt's steam engine on a visit to England.In 1816, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania donated a marble statue of Fulton to the National Statuary Hall Collection in the US Capitol Building. Fulton was also honored for his development of steamship technology in New York City's Hudson-Fulton Celebration of 1909. A replica of his first steam-powered steam vessel, the Clermont, was built for the occasion.Many places in the U.S. are named for Robert Fulton.Five ships of the United States Navy have borne the name USS Fulton in honor of Robert Fulton.Bronze statues of Fulton and Christopher Columbus represent commerce on the balustrade of the galleries of the Main Reading Room in the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. They are two of 16 historical figures, each pair representing one of the 8 pillars of civilization.In 2006, he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.A probably largely fictionalised account of Fulton's role was produced by BBC children's television. In the first season, Triton (1968), two British naval officers, Captain Belwether and Lieutenant Lamb, are involved in spying on Fulton while he is working for the French. In the second season, Pegasus (1969), they are surprised to find themselves working with him after he changed sides.In the children's TV series "TUGS" a steam powered ferry is named the Fulton Ferry, named after the Fulton Ferry company, founded by Robert Fulton in 1814.James McGee used Fulton's experiments in submarine warfare as a major plot element in his novel Ratcatcher. Invasion, the tenth novel in the Kydd naval warfare series by Julian Stockwin, also uses Fulton's submarine as an important plot element.Additionally, he is referenced in The Beach Boys song "Steamboat" (Dennis Wilson/Jack Rieley) from the 1973 album Holland.
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