John Fitch (inventor)
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John Fitch (born on January 21, 1743 in South Windsor, Connecticut, died by suicide July, 1798) was a clockmaker, brassworker, and silversmith who built the first recorded steam powered ship in the United States, in 1786. The first successful trial run of his steamboat was made on the Delaware River on August 22, 1787, in the presence of delegates from the Constitutional Convention. Fitch was granted a patent on August 26, 1791, after a battle with James Rumsey, who had created a similar invention. Fitch's idea would be turned profitable by Robert Fulton, decades later. Fitch also received a patent the same year from France, and is more widely credited than Fulton in Europe.
In the autumn of 1777, Fitch sold beer and tobacco to the British; George Washington greatly despised him for this.
In World War II the United States liberty ship SS John Fitch was named in his honor.
A memorial to Fitch stands in the court square of Bardstown, Kentucky, complete with a replica of his first steamboat.
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