Today in 1736 James Watt was born in Greenock, Scotland. He is famous for his steam engine and is often wrongly credited for inventing the engine, he didn't. Rather he modified an existing design and made it more efficient (four times as efficient).Watt continued to experiment and in 1781 he produced a rotary-motion steam engine. Whereas his earlier machine, with its up-and-down pumping action, was ideal for draining mines, this new steam engine could be used to drive many different types of machinery. This was vital to the growth of industrial Britain.
