Automotive Developments 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 ridely 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 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 arrangement to create small explosions that applied alternating pressures against the piston within the cylinder 1872-George Brayton of Boston patented a gasoline engine 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 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 wasAutomotive Developments 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. 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 arrangement to create small explosions that applied alternating pressures against the piston within the cylinder. 1872 - George Brayton of Boston patented a gasoline engine. 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. 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