Something that is no longer imaginable to live without is the car. A lot of countries work all the time on their infrastructure to ensure well-connected streets, roads, and highways that are safe for everyone to use. Everybody is dependent on cars in this fast-paced world, where people have to catch appointments and meetings, and the means of transport that helps them get from place A to place B is the car. Also, nowadays, there are many different cars on the market. One can choose between several brands, colors, sizes, models, and special features. But who invented them, how did the beginnings look, and how did the car develop over the years?
Before the first concept of a car came up, horse carriages were the most common means of transportation besides just traveling by foot. In the 15th century, famous artist Leonardo da Vinci came up with some drawings that would be drawings of the car’s antecedent. Confirming who was the inventor of the car is hard since this topic has led to some discussions. Some people are convinced that the German Karl Benz invented the automobile with three wheels in 1885 or 1886. He also applied fundamental parts of a car, like the gear shifter, the water radiator, or the carburetor, to a patent.
Moreover, the invention of the car, as we know it today, cannot be attributed to one person. There are many people who contributed a lot to its history and made groundbreaking changes or inventions. In 1769, the Frenchman Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot was the first to build a vehicle that was powered by steam and was a propelled road vehicle. It had three wheels, was built for the army of France, and had a speed of around 4 km/h.
In Scotland, from 1832 to 1839, Robert Anderson built the first electric carriage.
After Benz invented the car powered by gasoline, the development of the car took another big step when Gottlieb Wilhelm Daimler developed the first four-stroke engine with four wheels, which was called the “Cannstatt-Daimler”.
In 1876, the American George Baldwin Selden contributed his part to the work of his processors by developing an internal combustion engine and then combining it with a carriage.
Furthermore, in 1893, the American brothers Charles Edgar and Frank Duryea made a big breakthrough with a car that was powered by gas. It had 4 hp and a two-stroke motor. With this achievement, the Duryeas founded the first American car manufacturing company.
After that, the car developed further, and special features were added and improved. Americans like Henry Ford and Europeans like Daimler made the car into what it is today.
To conclude, all these people who were included in the car’s invention history had elemental and very impressive achievements. The next big chapter of car evolution is already in front of us because bright heads are working on car models that are able to drive without a person behind the steering wheel and that just drive autonomically. Maybe in a couple of years we only have to get into the car and let the machine do all the work.
Sources:
https://www.jdpower.com/cars/shopping-guides/history-of-the-invention-of-cars
https://www.loc.gov/everyday-mysteries/motor-vehicles-aeronautics-astronautics/item/who-invented-the-automobile/