George Stephenson's locomotive 'Rocket' won the Rainhill Trials held in Rainhill, near Liverpool, England, a competition to determine the best locomotive for the new Liverpool and Manchester Railway. The 'Rocket', with its multi-tubular boiler, demonstrated unprecedented speed and reliability. This victory established the standard design for future steam locomotives and confirmed the viability of inter-city rail travel.

The Rainhill Trials and the 'Rocket' are iconic moments in the story of the railway, a theme that would come to dominate 19th-century poetry. The 'Rocket' became a symbol of British industrial prowess, celebrated in verse and prose, while also serving as a focal point for anxieties about the speed and mechanization of modern life.