Stephenson, George. engineer. Born in Wylam in 1781. Worked as a collier and a brakesman. The invention of a safety lamp in 1815 brought him fame and a sum of £1,000. His first engine had been constructed before this and, in 1829, he won a prize of £500 for the best engine, his locomotive, the "Rocket," being fitted with the "blast-pipe." Stephenson died in 1848.

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