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The first self propelled car is invented
This car was invented by Nicolus Cognut for the french army. It could haul up to 4 tonnes at walking speed. This marked the beginning of the self propelled engine and the beginning of quicker transportation for heavy goods and people. -
Period: to
Timespan of the Modern Day automobile
The history of the automobile -
Richard Trevithick makes first steam engine "car"
Known as the "road locomotive" this car introduced the idea of having cars travelling on roads instead of on tracks. It was knows as the "horseless carriage". -
Samuel Brown changes Newcomen's engine
Samuel Brown changes Newcomen's engine so that it now burns a hydrogen oxygen mix and uses this engine to power up Shooter's hill which was the highest point in South London. -
Invention of the first Coal-Gas engine
Jean Joseph Etienne Lenior invented and patented the first two-stroke internal combustion engine that was fueled by coal and started withan electric spark ignition. This electric spark ignition is still used today and the coal engine is what lead to the invention of the gas and oil engine that we now use today. -
First speed limits introduced for cars
The Locomotive Act restricted the speed of automobiles to 2 mph in the city and 4 mph in the country. It also made it so that there were 3 drivers required at all time. 2 for driving and one for walking ahead waving a red flag. This lead to the speed limits of today that are inforced by the police. -
Nikolaus Otto invents the first 4 stroke engine
Nikolaus Otto invented and patented the first four stroke engine which was known as the "Otto cycle". This was further built upon and these 4 stroke engines are used in cars today. -
Karl Benz' patents the first gas powered car.
Karl Benz patents the first gas fueled automobile or the horseless car. This invention is the first gas powered car and lead to the gas and oil powered cars of today. -
First Motor Company fomed
Two former french wood machinists, Rene Panhard and Emile Levassor, became the first car manufacturers. Their first car was produced in 1890 and was built with the Daimler engine. Around this time another car company was formed in France, Peugot and it is still around today. -
Wilhelm Maybach invents a new engine.
Wilhelm Mayback invented the first four cylinder, four stroke engine. -
Maybach invents the spray nozzle carburretor
Maybach is back at it and invents the spray nozzle carburretor. The basis of which is still used to this day. -
The Grand Prix!
Racing began as soon as cars were built. These races quickly escalated from chases from town to town to time trials and more spectated events. Today racing is a huge spectable sport through NASCAR or the Indy series. -
The First Auto Traffic Accident
Bridget Driscoll, a 44 year old woman stepped off a curb and was hit by Arthur Edson. He was driving 4 mph at the time. Driscoll died from the head injuries and the coroner was reported saying "I trust that this sort of nonsense will never happen again." He was wrong as today hundreds of thousands of people die in traffic accidents every year. This accident lead to the making of laws and more driving regulations. -
Maybach's lightweight design
Maybach invented a racecar that used lightweight metals that he fitted with a 35 hp four-cylinder motor with 2 carburretors. He called it the mercedes and it broke the world speed record at the time with a speed of 64.4 km/h. This metal design led to the later changes in the materials that cars were made of to increase speed or gas mileage. -
Ford Motor Company is formed.
The Ford Motor Company is formed in the United States. This is important because Ford was the first car maker in the U.S.A. and it created the first assembly lines which allowed for the much quicker production of cars. -
The invention of the self-starting car
Working for Cadillac, Charles Kettering invented the electric ignition and starter motor so that cars could now start themselves without the old manual start. This invention is still used today so that our cars can start themselves just with the turn of a key, and more recently, the press of a button. -
Assembly line is used in Ford's production
The Ford Motor Company added an assembly line to their factory. This greatly increased production of cars in the factory and lead to the much quicker and partly mechanized assembly lines of today. -
Emissions testing begins
Emissions tests began in California to control the harmful emissions that come from cars. The rest of the world soon followed suit and around this time other safety devices began being required in the car. This relates to today because safety tests are still required for all automobiles on the streets and so are things like airbags and buckled seatbelts on all passengers. -
Oil Embargo affects the buyers decisions
The Arab Oil Embargo made prices of gas sky rocket so that gas mileage of a car became a large part of the buyers decision. This affected today because with the prices of gas rising yet again, Americans are needing to buy new cars with high gas mileage. -
The safe stopping distance is decreased by ABS
ABS or the Anti-lock Braking system first appeared in cars and trucks manufactured by Mercedes-Benz and allowed the driver to control the car while braking as well as stop in a shorter distance.This is important as the ABS system is still being used and improved in newer cars. -
Cars begin going green
Car makers understand that oil reserves will run out eventually and begin research on alternate fuel sources. This effected us today as many people now buy cars like the prius or other "green" cars so that they may reduce their carbon footprint and reduce their gas payments.
