Count Rumford 1753 - 1814

Count Rumford invented the Rumford fireplace. Benjamin Thompson (aka Count Rumford) was born in Woburn, Massachusetts in 1753. He was a loyalist and left the colonies with the British in 1776.

Benjamin Thompson was given a title by the Bavarian government for whom he worked for many years. Officially his title was the "Count of the Holy Roman Empire."

Count Rumford is known primarily for the work he did on the nature of heat. In 1796, he published a simple fireplace design which he proclaimed to be the solution to the "smoking chimneys in London".

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