The Strangest Firsts In Car History
Bizarre Car History Firsts
The history of the automobile is complex, with different starting points, different types of engines developed in different countries, and with successes and many failures over hundreds of years of innovation. In the end, no one person can be claimed to have invented the automobile. Here are some of the most notable firsts in automotive history.
The First Self Powered Road Vehicle
The history of the automobile can be traced back all the way to 1769. A key conceptual development is the notion of a vehicle that can be self-propelled, and not reliant on animal or human labor for movement. French engineer and inventor Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot first came up with the idea of a road vehicle that was self-propelled.
_en_1912_(du_au_meusien_Fosse,_sur_fonds_anglais).jpg){kind=link}
The First Self Powered Road Vehicle
Cugnot developed a military wagon that was powered by steam. Using a common horse-drawn two-wheel cart, Cugnot added a third wheel and a steam engine, something that had been developed in 1712 for pumping water. Cugnot’s Fardier à vapeur, as it was known, could travel at 2.25 miles per hour.
The First Car Crash
Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot’s Fardier à vapeur is notable for other reasons. At two and a half tons, Cugnot’s steam-powered vehicle was heavy and unwieldy. In 1771, Cugnot built a second vehicle using his engine. Unfortunately, Cugnot lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a wall: the first car crash.
The First Fatal Car Accident
Much as the first car accident predated automobiles with internal combustion engines, the first traffic fatality also predated the automobile. In 1869, Mary Ward was riding in a steam-powered vehicle in Ireland.
When the vehicle rounded a corner, Ward fell out and was run over by the vehicle, losing her life.
