How
could we have a list of mankind’s greatest inventions and not have the
ubiquitous automobile! Much like electricity and radio transmission, the
history of the automobile is one that’s debatable. You can’t really pin down
the invention on one person. The first
problem in doing so is the very definition of the automobile.
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| Automobile |
If it’s simply a self-propelled vehicle then its inventor
would have to be Nicolas-joseph cugnot who built a steam-powered tricycle in
1769. If we’re talking about electric-powered carriages then it would have to
be Robert Anderson from Scotland(1839) or French inventor Gustavo Trove who
demonstrated yet another three-wheeled vehicle in 1881. But most people
acknowledge Karl Benz as the inventor of the modern automobile. His invention
ran on an internal combustion engine(which he designed and won a patent for).
Incidentally the world’s first long distance driver was a woman. Bertha Benz, Karlis wife undertook the 106km journey in 1888 to prove the “road worthiness
of her husband’s invention”. Atta girl!
