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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Richard Trevithick
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(1771–1833)
The first man to carry passengers on a *steam vehicle. Born in Cornwall, he was familiar with steam engines in the mines. After the expiry of *Watt's patent in 1800 he began building engines, adapting one to drive a carriage. On this he took passengers over a short distance on Christmas Eve 1801 at Camborne, in Cornwall; in London in 1803 another version was driven from Holborn to Paddington and back; and in Wales in 1804 he ran the first locomotive on rails, pulling five wagons at Merthyr Tydfil at a speed of about 8kph/5mph with a load of ten tons of iron and 70 men. He went bankrupt in 1811 and later spent many years in Peru – where in 1827 he accidentally met Robert Stephenson (who gave him his passage money home).
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