1650?-1715

English engineer who invented the "Miner's Friend," the first useful machine powered by steam. This device, a steam pump to remove water from mine shafts, was inefficient but worked well enough to inspire others to invent improved models. These progressively advanced steam engines helped to power the first phases of the Industrial Revolution, making Savery's invention, inefficient as it was, one of the most significant technological innovations of all time.