Thomas Newcomen (baptized February 24, 1664-August 5, 1729), blacksmith and inventor, born in Dartmouth, England.
In 1712 Newcomen, with his business partner Thomas Savery, built a steam engine for pumping water out of collieries. The Newcomen engine was used for about fifty years until the design was improved by James Watt.
wikipedia.org dumped 2003-03-17 with terodump