The History of Cars
by A little bit about cars and their history.
1880s
The first automobile is considered to have been built by Karl Benz. He put a small motor on a tricycle!
Frank and Charles Duryea built the first American car in Springfield, Massachusetts. They manufactured the first of 13 of these gas-powered inventions in 1896.
1890s
Charles Duryea won the first automobile race, covering a 50-mile course around Chicago at an average speed of 5 miles per hour.
1900s
In 1900, 8,000 automobiles were on the roads.
The first gas station opened in St. Louis, Missouri.
A steering wheel appeared on a Packard “Ohio,” replacing the tiller.
Speedometers were installed on Oldsmobiles.
Henry Ford founded the Ford Motor Company in 1903.
Dr. Horatio Jackson, with a driver and his dog, was the first person to cross the country in a car. It took 65 days.
1910s
Barney Oldfield set a new speed record with a Blitzen-Benz at Daytona Beach, Florida, in 1910-more than 131 miles per hour.
The first Indianapolis 500 race was held in 1911.
By 1915, 2.3 million autos were registered in the United States.
The Lincoln Highway, the nation’s first coast-to-coast highway, was marked (not built) between New York and San Francisco.
1920s
In 1920, there were 6.5 million cars.
In 1920, America had about two million miles of roadways, but most roads were still made of dirt, which meant muddy roads in rainy weather.
The first highway to connect the coasts was completed in 1927.
The price of the Ford Model T was $275.
The Pig Stand, in Dallas, was the first restaurant to offer curbside service.
Denver bought the country’s first police car in 1922. It was designed with bulletproof steel, searchlights, and a machine gun mounted on the hood, to fight Prohibition –era crime.
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