Who invented the first outboard?

Answer 1

According to "The Old Outboard Book, Third Edition" by Peter Hunn, S. Emerson Harthan of Worcester, Massachusetts invented the first steam powered outboard motor back in 1887. He received a patent for his design, but never actually built the motor, though it did work on paper. The first company to produce an outboard motor according to the afore mentioned book, was American in 1896, no motors produced by the company have been found and no names are listed to give credit for the design, although documents such as bills of materials, labor charts, and production tables etc. have been found seeming to support the idea of American being the first outboard motor actually produced, but no name is given.