Born on the 11th of March, 1770, Mr. Huskisson was a British statesman, whose life took an unfortunate turn on the 15th of September, 1830. He is commonly known as the world's first widely reported railway passenger casualty, since he was run over and fatally injured by Robert Stephenson's pioneering locomotive Rocket at the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway in 1830. Although a number of fatal railway accidents had already occurred before this, his death led to wide reporting on the opening of the railway, making people around the world aware that cheap and rapid long-distance transport was now possible, if dangerous.
It all started when he was sent to Paris to live with his maternal great-uncle Dr. Richard Gem, who was the physician to the British embassy there. The prelude and early stages of the French Revolution left a lasting impression on him.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Nicolo Ciampini
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