The steamboat transportation era began with a smoke-spewing boat pulling out from New York harbor. And it came from a man who spent the early part of his life drawing portraits and miniatures (and who managed to make a decent living out of it, too). Robert Fulton’s occupation may have been painting, but his calling was mechanical. As a young boy, he created lead pencils and household utensils for use around the house, and created a hand-powered paddle wheel for boats. After his artistic phase, he turned his attention on using steam power to drive boats.

On this day, Aug. 17, 1807, Robert Fulton’s North River Steamboat began heading up the Hudson River on its successful round trip between New York and Albany. It would later become known as the “Claremont”, after the home of Robert Livingston, the U.S. ambassador to France, who got Fulton interested in the concept of steam powered ships.

Fulton did not limit himself to just steamboats — he also invented a rope-making machine, which he adapted for spinning flax. He invented a canal-dredging device and developed a new system of making canals (published in a seminal pamphlet). Fulton was also among the first to build a working model of a submarine — one that could submerge and surface easily, although underwater propulsion still remained a problem.