We have already written in our digital pages about the bubble of the South Seas Company or the Mississippi Company. Today we are going to talk about the bubble that laid the foundations for the Industrial Revolution. Behind it stood a certain invention which is still known today - the railroad. The birth of the railroad To begin this story, we must go back to the origins of such an ingenious invention as the railroad. Remarkably, the roots of the idea are not located in some big city, where everyone lives at an extremely fast pace. The latter is probably not conducive to dreaming. We have to find ourselves in the Welsh town of Penydarren. Whoever heard of it before would be better off with half a Bitcoin. The first part of the name brings to mind a certain murderous clown from Stephen King's novels, while the second part is associated with... nothing. Life in Penydarren was probably not particularly exciting. In the 18th century there was a mine and a steel mill. The miners (no, not the bitcoin diggers) spent their days extracting coal, which was then transported to the smelter by horse-drawn wagon on rails. In the smelter, however, worked an ambitious engineer. We are talking about Richard Trevithick. The then 30-year-old had previously been apprenticed to William Murdock, another inventor who, along with James Watt, built the steam engine. As is usually the case with bright students, Trevithick wanted to be like Luke Skywalker to Yoda - in other words, he wanted not only to continue the master's work, but also to surpass him. He dreamed of using the steam engine for human transportation. What's the point? Well, he strengthened the design of the boiler enough so that it could withstand more pressure. He also reduced its size and then mounted it on a platform on wheels, connecting the boiler to the gearbox to the wheels. He was a bit like Vitalik Buterin, who saw a slightly different, broader, use in someone else's invention (blockchain) than the original creator, which was Satoshi Nakamoto. (Un)conquered Thus was born "Invicta" ("Invincible") - the world's first steam locomotive. As with every new invention, this one also aroused controversy. "Why should anyone need such a marvel when we have an end?" - said probably Ricard Crawshayen, a local entrepreneur. His ignorance must have soundly infuriated Samuel Homfray, who funded Trevithick's research. (As our readers you understand the latter very well, because how many times have you heard the question to the legitimacy of the existence of cryptocurrencies and blockchain). Both businessmen bet a considerable amount of money. The object of the bet? "Invicta" will surpass a horse-drawn carriage and that going with a load of five wagons with iron and 70 workers. Anyone who has ever travelled on a Polish railway knows what a challenge we are talking about! Information about the plant quickly spread around the area, which was probably a harbinger of a future bubble. The inhabitants of Penydarren, however, were not surprised - such attractions as technological warfare did not happen very often there. So people also started to bet on who would win this battle: the horses or the machine. The attitude of the horses was not unambiguous - some were probably happy that they would get rid of some hard work, but others may have feared for their work and existence. Others malcontented that "we'll all end up with some funny little carriages with funny feathers attached to their heads..." Finally, on February 21, 1804, everything was to be settled. And it turned out that the steam engine had won. Although the triumph was bitter. On the way back one of the bolts that supported the boiler fell off. The tracks also proved too weak for such a heavy load. Proving that God does have a sense of humor after all, the "Invincible" was towed back to the steel mill for repairs by... horses after winning the race. Revival Unfortunately, after that there were already problems with finding new investors. Today, the inventor would announce an ICO in which he would sell tokens-tickets for later opportunities to ride the fun train, but we're talking about the 19th century. Trevithick fell into oblivion (perhaps also because of the language-breaking name)... Two decades passed and George Stephenson stepped onto the stage of history. All in white. With a flair for both technology and business. A combination that happens rarely, but gives an electrifying effect. He presented the first version of his steam locomotive in 1814, but it took him 10 years to raise the capital to launch a factory that would build such wonders. And then he lived happily ever after, while riding trains became fashionable. Well, not exactly. It turned out that almost nobody wanted to buy steam locomotives. Stephen figured: if there's no market, I'll make one by actively looking for customers and creating a fashion. He first succeeded in persuading the mine owners to use his steam locomotive, named, e.g. "The Moving One", rather than a horse-drawn cart on the route from Stockton harbour to Darlington. On September 27, 1825, the steam locomotive took to the track for the first time and at a dizzying speed of 12 mph. Railroads vs blockchain and BTC Let's stop for a moment
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