English inventor Thomas Savery patents the first steam engine - On this day in history

On this day in history, 1698: English inventor Thomas Savery patents the first steam engine. It wasn’t without its glitches, however, and the attempt, a few years later, to demonstrate Savery’s claim that it could pump water out of mines resulted in his engine being ‘rent ... to pieces’, due to the pressure of the steam. He was nevertheless an inspiration to inventors who came after him in what was to become the busy era of the 18^th century Industrial Revolution.