10 Facts About Thomas Newcomen

Thomas Newcomen was an English inventor who created the atmospheric engine, the first practical fuel-burning engine in 1712.

Thomas Newcomen was an ironmonger by trade and a Baptist lay preacher by calling.

Thomas Newcomen was a lay preacher and a teaching elder in the local Baptist church.

Thomas Newcomen's father had been one of a group who brought the well-known Puritan John Flavel to Dartmouth.

Thomas Newcomen replaced the receiving vessel with a cylinder containing a piston based on Papin's design.

Thomas Newcomen died at Wallin's house in 1729, and was buried at Bunhill Fields burial ground on the outskirts of the City of London; the exact site of his grave is unknown.

The Thomas Newcomen engine held its place without material change for about 75 years, spreading gradually to more areas of the UK and mainland Europe.

The Thomas Newcomen Engine was by no means an efficient machine, although it was probably as complicated as engineering and materials techniques of the early 18th century could support.

Thomas Newcomen's engine was gradually replaced after 1775 in areas where coal was expensive by an improved design, invented by James Watt, in which the steam was condensed in a separate condenser.

At first attempts to drive machinery by Thomas Newcomen engines had mixed success, as the single power stroke produced a jerky motion, but use of flywheels and better engineering largely overcame these problems.