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300 BCE
First Road Vehicles
They were two-wheeled carts. The wheels curved from large stone into rough disks shape. Commonly used by the Sumerians, Egyptians and Greeks as simple wagons to carry goods, people, and as chariots used for war, races, and processions . -
Dec 24, 1200
Carriages
Four-wheeled horse drawn carriages were developed. Only the rich could afford them though -
First Public Bus system
Blaise Pascal invented a horse-drawn public bus which has a regular route, schedule, and fare system. -
First Self-Propelled Road Vehicle
It was a military tractor invented by French engineer and mechanic, Nicolas Joseph Cugnot. It was used by the French Army to haul artillery at a whopping speed of 2 1/2 mph on only three wheels. The vehicle had to stop every ten to fifteen minutes to build up steam power. -
Earliest Internal-Combustion-Driven Auto
An engineer named Samuel Brown adapted an old Newcomen steam engine to burn gas, and he used it to power his auto up Shooter's Hill in London. -
Internal-Combustion Vehicle
It was a little three-wheeled car built by Carl Benz. He went into production with a four-wheeled model in 1890, and the Mercedes-Benz company is still with us. -
900 Cars Registered in the U.S.
Over half of the 900 cars registered in the U. S. were steam cars. -
Electric Starters
Starting your car gets a lot easier and safer. Before electric starters cars were started with cumbersome cranks that once fired up an engine actually killed a motorist, back in 1910. A year later, the electric ignition and with a self-starter came out. -
Four-Wheel Brakes
Making it easier to stop safely. They came out in 1920's but by the end of the decade almost all cars had four wheel brakes. -
Coil Spring Suspension
A coil spring is a mechanical device which is typically used to store energy and subsequently release it, to absorb shock, or to maintain a force between contacting surfaces. Came first in the front, later for the back wheels, too. -
Power Steering
Made driving much easier and safer. -
3-Speed Automatic Transmission
Automatic transmissions had already been through a number of iterations, as the demand for them rose, however, and the ways they worked became simpler and more powerful, the three-speed truly automatic transmission comes into its own. -
Catalytic Converter
The first production catalytic converter scrubbed tailpipe emissions and making getting around a cleaner proposition. -
Air Bags
After many tries, by 1984 manufacturers are figuring out cost-effective and safe ways to deploy airbags. They start to become standard features for the first time. -
ABS- Antilock braking system
The Lincoln becomes the first American car to offer an antilock braking system (ABS), which is made by Teves of Germany. ABS uses computerized sensing of wheel movement and hydraulic pressure to each wheel to adjust pressure so that the wheels continue to move somewhat rather than "locking up" during emergency braking. -
Hybrid Cars
Changing the fuel that cars use in the first place could be one of the most profound steps in automotive evolution. A hybrid is a vehicle if it utilizes more than one form of energy. A hybrid will have a traditional internal-combustion engine and a fuel tank, as well as one or more electric motors and a battery pack.
