George Stephenson
	George Stephenson was the first person to invent the steam engine. George Stephenson was born in 1781 in the pit village of Wylam near Newcastle and started working when he was only eight years old. He kept the cows off the Colliery's horse drawn wagon roadway. George's family did not have a lot of money so George did not go to school. When George was ten he was working all day at the pit. George showed his skills fixing machines. Later on George became the colliery's resident engineer. Also while working at the pit he got very good at wrestling. He would wrestle any pitman who dared to cross him. As he got older he joined a group in Northumberland for professional engineering. A couple of years later he built the world's first public railway. He built the first railway in 1825 in Stockton and Darlington, and he built another from Liverpool to Manchester in 1830. He also built a railway empire worth thirty million. Sadly in 1848 George died. He is best known for the steam engine he built called Stephenson's Rocket. By: Sean Brunell