Tuesday 29th August 1876

Born on this day, Charles F. Kettering, inventor of the electric starter who along with Edward A. Deeds, founded Delco (Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company). He and his company invented countless improvements for the automobile, including lighting and ignition systems, lacquer finishes, antilock fuels, and leaded gasoline. The Cadillac was the first car to use the electric starter, and Delco would later become a subsidiary of General Motors. Incidentally, Kettering also invented the first electric cash register before he started working on cars.