We just learned about the North River Steamboat.
Another part of the history of steam engines is Cugnot's - Fardier à vapeur.
A lot of people made steam powered boats that many people liked.
But it took a lot longer for people to make steam powered engines on wheels that people liked.
The first known steam powered engine on wheels was made by a French man named Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot, and he called it the "machine à feu pour le transport de wagons et surtout de l'artillerie" which is French for "fire engine for transporting wagons and especially artillery".
Since that's a long name, people just called it the "Fardier à vapeur" which means "Steam wagon".
He built it in 1769, but not a lot of people used it.
It went about 2 miles per hour, and could carry about 2 tons of weight.
Because it was very slow and broke down a lot, it was not very popular, and steam wagons like this were not used a lot for a long time.
(from: wikipedia - nicolas-joseph cugnot)
Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Forensic Podiatry
