1801-1810
Just before the Nineteenth Century dawned the patents on Watt’s steam engine expired and the invention became public property.
Trevithic applied steam power to the propulsion of a coach in 1801. This was the forerunner of the automobile and it led to the invention of the first steam railway and locomotive three years later. Steam was also applied to the propulsion of boats in this decade and reached the practical stage when Fulton built the Clermont in 1807. The first application of steam to the driving of a loom is accredited to William Horrocks in 1803. Jacquard’s loom attachment for producing various patterns was invented in 1801. The first knitting machine in which the latch needle was used was patented in France in 1806 by Jeandeau.
Among the machine-tool developments the most important were Bramah’s invention of the planer in 1802 and Brunel’s mortising machine in 1801. A process of making malleable iron castings was invented by Lucas in 1804. The percussion lock for guns was invented by Forsyth in 1807.