Transport and means of communication

After the steam engine appeared, inventors tried it in transport as well. In 1807 the American Robert Fulton built the steamship “Clermont”: its paddle wheels were turned by steam and it could sail against the wind. After that ships were no longer dependent on wind. In 1814 the Englishman George Stephenson built a steam locomotive. Because raw materials and finished goods had to be carried quickly and cheaply to and from factories, railways were built: in 1825 the first public railway, built by Stephenson, opened in England, and in 1830 Manchester and Liverpool were joined by rail. People had dreamed of flying for a long time. The American brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright built a motor-powered aeroplane and flew it on 17 December 1903: the first flight lasted only 12 seconds and covered about 37 metres. It is regarded as the first controlled, powered flight of a heavier-than-air machine carrying a person. In 1913 the Russian designer Igor Sikorsky built the four-engined “Russky Vityaz” (Russian Knight). Today aeroplanes carry millions of people, among them aeroplanes of Uzbekistan Airways.