The internal combustion engine burns fuel inside a cylinder and uses the expanding gases to push a piston, producing motion. It was not invented at one moment, so the date shown is not that of a single breakthrough. Etienne Lenoir built a gas-fired engine in 1860, Nikolaus Otto developed a practical four-stroke engine in 1876, and Rudolf Diesel patented his compression-ignition engine in the 1890s. In 1885 and 1886 Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler used such engines to power the first automobiles. The engine went on to drive cars, trucks, ships, locomotives and aircraft, and its fuel consumption shaped the oil economy of the twentieth century. Its emissions are a major contributor to air pollution and climate change, which has driven the shift to electric vehicles.
Before and after
- 16 October 1923Founding of The Walt Disney Company
- November 1923German hyperinflation reaches its peak
- from 8 November 1923 to 9 November 1923Beer Hall Putsch
- 20 November 1923Birth of Nadine Gordimer
- 1924Internal combustion engine
- 1924Origins of Allsvenskan
- 1924Founding of Colombia men's national football team
- 7 January 1924Founding of International Hockey Federation
- 21 January 1924Death of Vladimir Lenin
More in Science & technology
- 2 November 1920KDKA begins the first commercial radio broadcasts
- 1931Kurt Godel proves his incompleteness theorems
- 1933Karl Jansky detects radio waves from the Milky Way
- 4 March 1936First flight of LZ 129 Hindenburg
- 1 February 1942Launch of Voice of America
- October 1943Streptomycin, the first antibiotic that works against tuberculosis, is discovered
The era
This moment belongs to the Modern era (1914 CE to 1945 CE), world wars and a changing world. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.