Born on this day, John Froelich, US inventor of the first petrol-powered farm tractor, with forward and reverse gears
Saturday 24th November 1849 Born on this day, John Froelich, US inventor of the first petrol-powered farm tractor, with forward and reverse gears. Froelich’s tractor, completed in 1892, featured a Van Duzen one-cylinder gasoline engine mounted on wooden beams to operate a threshing machine. Froelich manufactured several more tractors of this type during the year,…
Karl Friedrich Benz, German engineer and entrepreneur who designed and developed the world’s first automobile powered by an internal combustion engine, was born
Monday 25th November 1844 Karl Friedrich Benz, German engineer and entrepreneur who designed and developed the world’s first automobile powered by an internal combustion engine, was born. He and his wife Bertha were the founding members of the Mercedez-Benz company. Benz was born into a poor family. His father died when he was two years…
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…
John Gray
Friday 15th October 1841 Born on this day, John Simpson Gray, candymaker, business man, and banker from Detroit, who was an original investor in (and the first president of) the Ford Motor Company.
New London Bridge (19th century) was opened to traffic with great splendor by King William IV, accompanied by Queen Adelaide, and many of the members of the royal family
Monday 1st August 1831 New London Bridge (19th century) was opened to traffic with great splendor by King William IV, accompanied by Queen Adelaide, and many of the members of the royal family. The old bridge continued in use while the new bridge was being built, and was demolished after the latter opened. New approach…
The Great National Pike, also known as the Cumberland Road, became the first highway funded by the national treasury
Saturday 29th March 1806 The Great National Pike, also known as the Cumberland Road, became the first highway funded by the national treasury. Built between 1806 and 1840, the Great National Pike stretched from Cumberland, Maryland, to Vandalia, Illinois. On this day the first appropriation of $30,000 was made by congressional act. Eventually over $6…