Robert Fulton (November 14, 1765 – February 24, 1815) was an American engineer and inventor who is usually credited with constructing the North River Steamboat, the world's first commercially successful steamboat (also known as Clermont). The North River was a common appellation for the Hudson river at the time, and Clermont was Robert Livingston's Estate on the Hudson.

The North River was far from the first steamboat, as the first successful steamboat to sail was built in 1776 in France. Fulton was the first to operate a steamboat commercially.

In 1807, that steamboat carried passengers on the Hudson River from New York City to Albany and back, a round voyage of 300 miles (480 km) in 62 hours. His steamboat's success altered river traffic and trade on key American rivers.

By 1819 there were a total of nine steamboats operating in the Hudson River, and by 1840 there were over 100.  Fulton, who had been ridiculed when he first developed the boat, also referred to disparagingly as Fulton's Folly, had brought the era of the steamboat into being.

According to oldnytours.com & shortpedia.com