Thomas Newcomen installed his atmospheric steam engine at a coal mine near Dudley, England, in 1712, the first machine to convert fuel into sustained mechanical work at commercial scale. For the first time in history, work was no longer limited to muscle, wind and water, the threshold on which the Industrial Revolution stands.
Facts
Partially Attested
Milestone DateOnly the year 1712 is documented for when the engine at Dudley began work; no source gives a day or month. The stored date is a placeholder for the start of that year, not an attested day. Milestone Year Connections
Associated With
Source Energy and Civilization: A HistoryVaclav Smil
Credited To
Open Questions
Source Wikipedia: Newcomen atmospheric engine
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Sources
1. Energy and Civilization: A History
Vaclav Smil, MIT Press, 2017
2. Wikipedia: Newcomen atmospheric engine
Newcomen atmospheric engine, Conygree Coalworks 1712
The earliest examples for which reliable records exist were two engines in the Black Country, of which the more famous was that erected in 1712 at the Conygree Coalworks in Bloomfield Road Tipton now the site of "The Angle Ring Company Limited", Tipton.
- Open Questions: What exact date in 1712 did Thomas Newcomen's first practical steam engine begin operating?
In Group: Foundations of Steam, Oil and Electricity, Lead
The atmospheric engine was invented by Thomas Newcomen in 1712, and is sometimes referred to as the Newcomen fire engine (see below) or Newcomen engine.
View the SourceOpen Questions (2 open questions)
What exact date in 1712 did Thomas Newcomen's first practical steam engine begin operating?
Reliable histories agree the engine was erected in 1712 at the Conygree Coalworks near Dudley and Tipton in the Black Country, but no source consulted names the day or month it began pumping.
What would resolve this A contemporary colliery record, correspondence, or documented primary account naming the specific day the engine started work.
History of technologyWikipedia: Newcomen atmospheric engine
What was the exact date in 1712 that Newcomen's engine at Conygree began operating?
Wikipedia's "Newcomen atmospheric engine" article and the web sources checked alongside it (Graces Guide, Britannica, historyofinformation.com) all give only the year 1712 for the engine erected at the Conygree Coalworks near Dudley; none names a specific month or day.
What would resolve this A contemporary record, a colliery account book, a letter, or a dated notice naming the day the engine was first put to work.
Wikipedia
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