Fr : version française / En: english version
Though steam's power has been known since Antiquity, it was not mastered until much later, thanks in part to Denis Papin, inventor of the first piston engine in 1690. Harnessed for rail, its efficiency earned it enormous success by the dawn of the 19th century.
So intoned the ineffable Adolphe Thiers the day before the first French rail line was inaugurated in August 1837. A few years later, in a speech to the French parliament, he changed his tune and stated:
"Gentlemen, in 1838, as now, I favored building a large rail line that would cover every inch of France. That was the opinion I intended to profess with my honorable friend, Count Jaubert. An indisposition prevented me from doing so. It was always and ever my opinion; I have come to assert it today..."
That's what you call jumping on the bandwagon!
Locomotives became cult objects, from the "Stephenson rocket," the first modern locomotive clocked at 50 kilometers an hour, to the "Pacific 231." Steam trains would become the leading means of ground transportation until the widespread adoption of the automobile in the fifties.
The train for the Paris/Saint-Germain-en-Laye line inaugurated on August 28, 1837 by Queen Marie-Amélie—Louis Philippe's advisors having dissuaded him from taking part in such a hazardous expedition—was late.
A meal was planned for the travelers on the train's arrival and the chef had already started cooking his potatoes. But the guests were late and he removed them from the frying oil, dropping them back in when the latecomers finally put in an appearance. To his astonishment, the potatoes puffed up and became light and crispy. They were a great success at the royal table.