David Bushnell (1742-1824) built the first man-propelled submarine boat with a wooden magazine containing gunpowder and a clock mechanism for igniting it at any particular time. Although he was not successful in his attempts to destroy British ships...

David Bushnell grew up on a family farm in a rural area near Saybrook, Connecticut. After his father's death, Bushnell sold the farm and decided to pursue an education at Yale, starting in 1771. While at Yale he discovered that, contrary to popular...

1740-1826 American inventor who designed the first military submarine. Before he graduated from Yale, Bushnell had learned how to detonate gunpowder in water and he planned how to construct a submarine. He secretly built a submersible wooden vessel,...

David Bushnell (1742 - 1824) of Saybrook, Connecticut, was an American inventor during the Revolutionary War. He is credited with creating in 1775, while studying at Yale University, the first submarine ever used in combat, known as the Turtle. His idea...