Fire codes are a relatively recent phenomenon, and for most of its history, densely-packed New York was a tinderbox in the winter. Heaters blew up or failed from stress, boilers exploded, and hearth fires got out of control. Traditional hand pump fire engines were good as far as they could go, but for larger fires or larger structures they were often underpowered. So Paul Hodge, the mechanical engineer who authored a whole volume on steam power, created a better engine.

On this day, March 27, in 1841, Hodge’s invention debuted at the New York City Hall. At exactly 4pm, the engine was revved up and shot a inch-thick stream of water over the flagpole next to the building. A rousing success, thought Hodge.

The firefighters thought differently. The new steam invention threatened to put them all out of a job, for one thing. More practically, however, device was rather unwieldy: 14 feet long, seven tons in weight, requiring two horses just on level ground. Its firefighting credentials were not helped any by the smokestack that also occasionally bellowed out sparks.