GEORGE STEPHENSON

A sketch of George Stephenson’s Rocket. The first passenger locomotive.

When did he live? George Stephenson was born in 1781. At this time Britain was starting to change from a land of farms and small villages to a land of factories and big cities. We call this change theIndustrial Revolution. By the time George Stephenson died in 1848, its new railways and factories had made Britain the richest country in the world.

About the rocket The Rocket had four wheels. It pulled a tender, a water tank on wheels. A fire burning coke heated water in a boiler to make steam. The steam power drove the wheels. The Rocket could pull a train full of people along the new railway.

The accident Sadly, there was an accident on this great day. William Huskisson, a member of the government, was knocked down by the Rocket. He was the first person to be killed by a train.