Automobiles
Automobiles are four-wheeled vehicles that are designed primarily for passenger transportation and commonly powered by an internal combustion engine, using a volatile fuel. They are also used in industrial applications such as metal stamping, pressworking and packing machines.
Inventors, Early History and Development
The first recorded car was a steam engine attached to a wagon in the late 18th century. By the 19th century, better and faster cars were being built with gasoline or electric power.
Benz invented the first modern automobile in 1885, when he patented it in Mannheim, Germany. In 1888, his wife Bertha Benz drove the automobile for over 106 kilometers (about 65 miles) to show that it was a useful vehicle for transporting people.
Ferdinand Porsche, also of Germany, developed a gasoline-powered automobile in 1906. Then, in 1910, Henry Ford began to build and sell his Model T, which was the most popular automobile of its time.
Benefits of Automobiles
An automobile is one of the most important tools in our lives and has helped make modern life possible. It allows people to travel around more easily than they could by foot, and it helps them get jobs and places to live.
It can be expensive, though. It can also cause air pollution and accidents.
Fortunately, safety features such as seat belts and airbags have helped reduce the number of deaths and injuries caused by automobile crashes. Other improvements have come from structural changes to automobiles, such as crumple zones and side-impact protection bars.