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the idea of the engine
Christian Huygens started toying with the notion of an internal combustion engine but he never tried to build the engine. His ideas of an engine started the thought of a self propelled wagon and eventually lead to the invention of the internal combustion engine. -
Combustion engines in boats
Nicephore Niepce put his home made internal combustion engine on a boat and powered up the Saone river in france. This engine ran on coal dust, Napoleon granted him a patent on the engine. -
Jean Joseph Lenoir invents the first internal combustion engine
Jean created the first non steam powered engine. Lenoir made somewhat reliable two stroke engine on a three wheel carriage that runs off of coal gas, and is a breakthrough for inventors to start trying to make a combustion engine. -
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timespan of the combustion engine
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julius hock improves the fuel an internal combustion engine can use
Hock invented the first engine that can run off of liquid gasoline, a much more reliable fuel source -
Nikolaus Otto improves the invention
Nikolaus Otto began to research the combustion engine and tried to make improvements. Nikolaus comes up with a four stroke engine that renders Lenoirs model obselete -
George Baldwin gets first U.S. patent on an automobile
This patent was on a horseless carriage that had an internal combustion engine. This sparked the start to American car companies eventually leading to ford and chevy. -
motorcycles with internal combustion engine
Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach built the first prototype motorcycle with an internal combustion engine -
the first gas pump
the first gas pump is installed in fort wayne, this is because the mass productive of the internal combustion engine in vehicles. -
long distance trip with the internal combustion engine
Bertha and Carl Benz took the first long distance trip of a car with the internal combustion engine. They traveled 64 miles and proved that the internal combustion engine is reliable and should be mass produced on vehicles. -
Gottlieb Daimler invents a more powerful engine
Daimler invents a new V-shaped engine with more horsepower. This engine is said to be the prototype for all modern day engines. -
manufacturing cars
Charles and Frank Duryea manufactor the first gas powered, internal combustion engine in America -
Carburetors
Fredrick Lanchester started putting carburetors on automobiles to get a good amount of oxygen and fuel in the pistons of a internal combustion engine. This invention was typical on cars until about 1980 when direct injected cars became popular. -
Diesel engine
Rudolf Diesel invents the first internal combustion engine using diesel power. His engine was more fuel efficient than regular gas engines and steam engines which wasted more than half of their fuel. They are commonly used in trucks, submarines and trains. -
wright brothers
orville and wilbur Wright build the first flying machine to sustain flight. They built a special, high power internal combustion engine to make the plane fly -
the model T
Henry Ford invented the model T car which is cheap and mass produced. This car uses a an internal combustion engine and at the time is the most popular vehicle on the roads. -
v8 engines
Cadillac creates the first production v8 internal combustion engine. This engine had 70 horse power and was very powerful for its time. The U.S. army purchased 2000 of these engines to use in world war one. -
america's highway system
Due to the reliability of the internal combustion engine in cars, it was made possible to create roads so that a person could drive from one side of the country to the other. -
v6 engine
Francesco De Virilo invented the first pruduction v6 internal combustion engine. This engine was used to cut down on vibration problems in the Lancia Aureilia but was soon adopted by many other companies. -
hydrogen internal combustion engine
Paul Deiges acquired a patent on a hydrogen powered internal combustion engine. The car interanally converts the hydrogen into electricity to power the engine. -
rotary internal combustion engine
Steven Zach patent his rotary internal ombustion engine. It is an engine with rotating recipicral pistons that uses less gas.