The next year, however, John Fitch and Robert Fulton received a patent for their larger vessel. In 1806, Fitch and Hudson successfully sailed their steamboat, The Clermont, up the Hudson River.

Robert E. Fulton Jr., an adventurous inventor whose more than 70 patents included a car that could fly and a rescue system for spies behind enemy lines, died May 7 at his home in Newtown, Conn.His … ...