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No matter how well automobiles run, people complained about this or
that and wanted continual improvements made. Pioneer drivers fretted
about pesky details such as the buttoning down of side-curtains in a
sudden storm; the stoking of a Clark charcoal auto heater; the
frustration of a broken drive-chain wrapped around a rear axle and
the feeble flicker of the carbide lamp on the dark country roads.
Something had to be done to stop all the complaining!
1600 - The Dutch employed wind power to propel sail-mounted carriages
which raced along at 20 mph and held scores of passengers. It
is quite probable that both speed and load capacity were
exaggerated. Later, small carriages were equipped with wind-
mills, the mill vanes geared to the wheels. These were probably
the first land vehicles to be propelled by anything other than
animal or human muscle power, but people complained because the
vehicles depended on the whim of a breeze.
1680 - Sir Isaac Newton conceived of a vehicle propelled by a "rear-
wardly directed jet of steam." This idea didn't evolve for use
in the automobile, but it was later used in rocket thrust.
1698 - Thomas Savery invented the first steam engine in Britain. It
was crude, inefficient, and even dangerous, since it blew up
quite often.
1711 - Thomas Newcomen, an English blacksmith, improved upon Savery's
engine.
1769 - James Watt, a Scottish instrument maker, patented a steam
engine that became widely used in British mines, mills, and
factories.
Nicholas Joseph Cugnot, an officer financed by the French
government, built a steam-propelled, 3-wheeled artillery wagon,
which raced along at 3 mph. In a demonstration, it went out of
control and ran into a wall. Most automotive historians trace
the beginning of the true automobile back to Cugnot's cannon.
1801 - Richard Trevithick, an engineer in Cornwall, built an
experimental road steamer. Two years later, he improved on his
invention, which was demonstrated in London and proved itself
to have sustained, reliable performance at its maximum speed
of 12 mph.
1804 - American road steamers were built by Apollo Kinsley in
Connecticut, Nathan Read in Massachusetts, and Oliver Evans in
Pennsylvania. Evans' vehicle was 30 feet long and weighed 15
tons. Evans had applied for a patent on a "Steam Land Carriage"
in 1792. He was commissioned in 1805 by the city's board of
health to build a versatile steam-driven dredge. He added the
idea that the machine also travel on land under its own power.
A series of belts and gears transmitted the power of the boat's
engine to the wagon wheels. On its first run, it clanked slowly
along on huge iron wheels, frightening onlookers on its way to
the Schuylkill River where its energy was diverted from the
land wheels to a paddlewheel in the stern.
1830s- Britain was providing a network of passenger and freight
services which were steam-powered in a handful of cities.
1831 - Michael Faraday discovered the principles of the induction
coil.
1839 - The first electrically-powered road vehicle is believed to
have been built in Scotland by Robert Anderson, but it and
others built in Britain in the next several years were mostly
unsuccessful. Around 1880, longer-lasting batteries were
developed, but these were cumbersome and bulky and needed
frequent recharging. Electric cabs, however, appeared on the
streets of London in the late 1800s.
1845 - A Scot called Thomson patented a type of pneumatic tire, but
John Boyd Dunlop is usually given credit for their development.
1850 - A method of obtaining liquid hydrocarbons from coal and shale
was patented by James Young, a Scotsman. This "coal oil" took
the pressure off the dwindling numbers of whales which until
that time had been a prime source of oil for lamps.
1859 - On August 27, an ex-railroad conductor, Edwin L. Drake, made a
revolutionary discovery with a 69-foot well at Titusville,
Pennsylvania. "Rock oil" had previously been collected from
ground seepage pools and used for medicinal and other limited
purposes. With Drake's discovery on Oil Creek leading the way,
great volumes of petroleum became available in the United
States. It provided kerosene for millions of lamps, paraffin
for candles and candy, hoof and harness oils, lubricants for
ships and mills, a "miracle" salve called Vasoline, and many
by-products to make varnishes, lacquer, oilcloth and patent
leather. One of the waste products of the distilling process
was an explosive, inflammable substance called "gasolene."
1860 - Etienne Lenoir built and patented the first commercially
satisfactory gas engine. Two years later, he constructed a
crude vehicle on which to test his engine. Although it was
crude, it worked, but ran so slowly (about 1 mph), he became
discouraged and stopped his efforts. Lenoir's engine used an
electric spark plug system.
1864 - In Vienna, Austria, Siegfried Marcus built a one-cylinder
engine that used a primitive carburetor and a magneto arrange-
ment to create small explosions that applied alternating
pressures against the piston within the cylinder.
1872 - George Brayton of Boston patented a gasoline engine.
1874 - H. J. Lawson invented the first so-called safety bicycle, a
chain-driven device with two medium-sized wheels of equal
diameter.
1875 - Siegfried Marcus built his second gasoline-powered vehicle,
which is preserved in the Technical Museum in Vienna; Marcus
mysteriously washed his hands of the whole idea, deciding it
to be a waste of time.
1876 - In Deutz, Germany, Eugene Langen and Nikolaus August Otto
improved upon Marcus' engine and introduced the first workable
4-stroke internal combustion gas engine after many years of
experimental work. Gottlieb Daimler, an employee of Langen
and Otto, was involved in the engine's design.
1879 - George B. Selden, an attorney in Rochester, New York (who, at
the time, had never built a motor vehicle), applied for and
finally received U.S. patent No. 549,160 (1885)). As a result,
claims against automobile manufacturers clouded the industrial
scene for years.
1883 - In Bad Cannstatt, Germany, Wilhelm Daimler succeeded in
producing a more efficient, 4-stroke, gasoline-fueled engine
which was granted a patent. (Earlier "gas" engines had been
fueled by hydrogen or turpentine vapors or by coal gas.)
Daimler's first engine was mounted on a sturdy bicycle and
operated well on a test run in 1885. This is the prototype of
the modern motorcycle.
1885 - Carl Benz successfully tested his first gasoline engine motor
vehicle at Mannheim, Germany; a 1-hp, 1-cylinder engine; a
refinement of the 4-stroke engine which was designed by Otto.
This 3-wheeler had all the essential elements characteristic of
the modern automobile: electrical ignition, differential,
mechanical valves, carburetor, a water cooling system, oil and
grease cups for lubrication, and a braking system. He received
a patent for his "carriage with gas engine" in 1886. It had a
tubular steel chassis and an open wooden two-seater body. The
single front wheel steered by means of a tiller, and the two
large rear wheels were driven by chains. The single-cylinder
engine was mounted horizontally over the rear axle. At 250 to
300 rpm, it produced about 1/2 horsepower and drove the car at
about 8 to 10 mph (13-16 kph).
1887 - Building on his experience with the motorcycle, Daimler built
and installed his vertical single-cylinder engine into a 4-
wheeled, converted carriage with encouraging results. It had
an increased horsepower of 900 rpm (as compared to Benz's 300
rpm) and was the first high-speed internal combustion engine,
developing one and one-half horsepower.
1888 - John Boyd Dunlop introduced pneumatic bicycle tires for the
safety bicycles.
1892 - The Harris motor wagon, built in Baltimore, operated success-
fully before Duryea brothers' cars. It was a sightseeing bus
rather than a conventional auto and ran on hard rubber tires.
Maybach introduced the first float-type carburetor at this
time.
1893 - Charles E. and J. Frank Duryea introduced what has been
recognized as America's first successful internal combustion
horseless carriage at Springfield, Massachusetts. This vehicle,
called a "buggyaut" by its producers, was a well-worn, high-
wheeled carriage with a small, one-cylinder gasoline engine
mounted on its back.
1894 - Vacheron introduced the steering wheel.
The Michelin brothers produced a pneumatic tire for cars.
Edgar and Elmer Apperson celebrated the 4th of July in Kokomo,
Indiana, by unveiling a car they had built, based on plans
conceived by Elwood G. Haynes.
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