on the Firth of Clyde, and within four years a steamer service was in operation on the inland Loch Lomond, a forerunner of the lake steamers still gracing Swiss lakes. On the Clyde itself, within ten years of Comet's start in 1812 there were nearly fifty steamers, and services had started across the Irish Sea to Belfast and on many British estuaries. P.S."Thames", ex "Argyle" was the first seagoing steamer in Europe, having steamed from Glasgow to London in May 1815. P.S."Tug", the first tugboat, was launched by the Woods Brothers, Port Glasgow, on November 5, 1817; in the summer of 1817 she was the first steamboat to travel round the North of Scotland to the East Coast. The first steamship credited with crossing the Atlantic Ocean between North America and Europe was the American ship SS Savannah, though she was actually a hybrid between a steamship and a sailing ship. The SS Savannah left the port of Savannah, Georgia, on May 22, 1819, arriving in Liverpool, England, on June 20, 1819; her steam engine having been in use for part of the time on 18 days (estimates vary from 8 to 80 hours). Locomotives July 25, 1814 –George Stephenson tests his locomotive Blucher successfully. February 6, 1815 – New Jersey grants the first American railroad charter to a John Stevens. 1816: A rail capable of supporting a heavy locomotive is developed. Other transportation July 4, 1817 – At Rome, New York, construction on the Erie Canal begins. 1818 - Baron Karl Drais patents the laufmaschine, a forerunner to the bicycle Natural events December 16, 1811 – The New Madrid earthquake in Mississippi Valley near New Madrid reverses the course of the river for a while. Other earthquakes along the fault occur on January 23, 1812, and February 7, 1812. February 7, 1812 – The last New Madrid earthquake strikes New Madrid, Missouri, with an estimated moment magnitude of over 8; March 26, 1812 – An earthquake destroys Caracas, Venezuela. April, 1817 – An earthquake strikes Palermo, Italy. August 23, 1817 – An earthquake near the site of the ancient Greek city of Helike results in 65 deaths. Year Without a Summer April 5–April 12, 1815 – Mount Tambora in the Dutch East Indies blows its top explosively during an eruption, killing upwards of 92,000 and propelling thousands of tons of aerosols (Sulfide gas compounds) into the upper atmosphere (stratosphere).