Alistair,
Your "Rubbish" comment is only partially correct. The North River and Comet were not the first steamboats. There were a few steamboats in Europe before the Comet including Jouffroy & Fulton in France and a few before before the North River in America. Boats by Morey, Rumsey Fitch preceded Fulton's.
The Comet (1814?) and the North River (AUG 1807) were the first SUCCESSFUL commercial steamboats. That's where you erred! The first steam locomotive was circa 1814