Born on this day, John Henry Knight, a wealthy engineer and inventor who was the first person to be convicted of speeding in the UK, after he built Britain’s first petrol-powered motor vehicle in 1895
Thursday 21st January 1847 Born on this day, John Henry Knight, a wealthy engineer and inventor who was the first person to be convicted of speeding in the UK, after he built Britain’s first petrol-powered motor vehicle in 1895.
Joseph Lowthian Hudson
Saturday 17th October 1846 Born on this day, Joseph Lowthian Hudson, founder of Hudson’s department store in Detroit, Michigan. Hudson also supplied the seed capital for the establishment, in 1909, of Roy D. Chapin’s automotive venture, which Chapin named the Hudson Motor Car Company in honor of J.L. Hudson.
Born on this day, George Selden, patent lawyer and inventor who was granted a U
Sunday 13th September 1846 Born on this day, George Selden, patent lawyer and inventor who was granted a U.S. patent for an automobile in 1895
Born on this day, Wilhelm Maybach, the car engine, designer and industrialist
Monday 9th February 1846 Born on this day, Wilhelm Maybach, the car engine, designer and industrialist. In 1885, Maybach and his mentor, the German engineer Gottlieb Daimler (1834-1900), developed a new high-speed, four-stroke internal combustion engine. (Nikolaus Otto is credited with inventing the first functioning four-stroke engine.) Maybach and Daimler fixed their engine to a…
Thomas Buckland Jeffery
Wednesday 5th February 1845 Born on this day, Thomas Buckland Jeffery, American inventor and manufacturer of bicycles, who in 1897 built the first Rambler motor car.
Born on this day, Karl Benz, German engine designer and car engineer, generally regarded as the inventor of the gasoline-powered automobile, and together with Bertha Benz pioneering founder of the automobile manufacturer Mercedes-Benz
Monday 25th November 1844 Born on this day, Karl Benz, German engine designer and car engineer, generally regarded as the inventor of the gasoline-powered automobile, and together with Bertha Benz pioneering founder of the automobile manufacturer Mercedes-Benz.
Emile Delahaye
Monday 16th October 1843 Born on this day, Emile Delahaye, French automotive pioneer who founded Delahaye Automobiles. In 1894, he displayed his first automobile at the first-ever Paris Motor Show. In order to gain publicity for his product, Delahaye raced one of his own cars in the 1896 Paris–Marseille–Paris road race. Faced with health problems,…
Born on this day, Henry Martyn Leland, US machinist, inventor, engineer and automotive entrepreneur
Thursday 16th February 1843 Born on this day, Henry Martyn Leland, US machinist, inventor, engineer and automotive entrepreneur. He was the guiding genius of the Cadillac Motor Car Company. He was the company’s founder and became the Division’s first general manager when it was purchased by Billy Durant and General Motors in 1909. Religiously devoted…
William McKinley
Sunday 29th January 1843 Born on this day, William McKinley, the 25th American president and the first to ride in an automobile. McKinley served as President from 1897 to 1901, a time when the American automotive industry was in its infancy. During his presidency, McKinley (who died from an assassin’s bullet in September 1901) took…
Émile Levassor
Saturday 21st January 1843 Born on this day, Émile Levassor, French engineer and a pioneer of the automobile industry and car racing in France. Levassor built cars with Rene Panhard took part in motor racing, finishing fifth in Paris to Rouen race in 1894, and arriving first in (but not winning) the Paris–Bordeaux–Paris race the…