August 17

Robert Fulton’s paddle wheel steamship the Clermont, left Manhattan on the 17th in 1807, bound for Albany, New York. This voyage marked the first successful steamboat service in the world.
The name of Fulton’s vessel has been popularly known as the Clermont since that time. The actual name of the boat, however, was the North River Steamboat. The North River was the Dutch name for the Hudson River.