Short answers, pulled from the story.
Liverpool merchants Joseph Sandars and Henry Booth established the Liverpool and Manchester Railway in May 1824. Their goal was to link textile mills in Manchester with the deep water port at Liverpool.
Eight trains departed Crown Street station in Liverpool at 11:00 am on Wednesday the 15th of September 1830. A gun fired to mark the opening as the procession left Liverpool.
William Huskisson fell onto tracks suffering serious leg injuries when Rocket collided with his carriage door at Parkside railway station around 11:55 am. He died from these wounds at 11:00 pm after doctors concluded that amputation would be fatal given his agitated condition.
Estimated sixty-nine thousand people attended the funeral of William Huskisson which took place on Friday the 24th of September almost every business in Liverpool closed for the event. Authorities issued three thousand color-coded tickets representing different cemetery sections to manage the crowd.
George Stephenson designed the route using four equally spaced rails instead of the standard two so trains could run on central rails if an outer rail broke or if a wide load needed extra stability. This design allowed Stephenson to reduce land requirements for the already costly scheme.