George Stephenson

Civil engineer, Inventor

1781 – 1848

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Who was George Stephenson?

George Stephenson was an English civil engineer and mechanical engineer who built the first public inter-city railway line in the world to use steam locomotives, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway which opened in 1830. Renowned as the "Father of Railways", the Victorians considered him a great example of diligent application and thirst for improvement, with self-help advocate Samuel Smiles particularly praising his achievements. His rail gauge of 4 feet 8 ¹⁄₂ inches, sometimes called "Stephenson gauge", is the standard gauge by name and by convention for most of the world's railways by far.

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Born
Jun 9, 1781
Wylam
Siblings
Children
Ethnicity
  • English people
Nationality
  • England
Profession
Employment
  • Black Callerton Colliery
  • West Moor Pit
  • Mining Project Engineer, Killingworth Colliery
    (1803 - )
  • Engineer, Liverpool and Manchester Railway
    (1824 - )
Lived in
  • Killingworth Village
    (1804 - )
  • Montrose
Died
Aug 12, 1848
Tapton House

Submitted
on July 23, 2013

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"George Stephenson." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/george_stephenson>.

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