The Automobile

The image of the first self-propelled vehicle dates back to the early thirteenth century. Europe is the birth place of the automobile, but it was adopted by America. Roger Bacon had a vision of cars being made and used without the help of animals so that it could travel at astonishing speeds and have good maneuverability. About three hundred years later, Leonardo da Vinci rejuvenated Bacon’s idea with hopes of creating a military vehicle. His idea was transformed into the modern day tank. The first step in making a self-propelled vehicle was taken by Nicholas Joseph Cugnot.

He was an eighteenth century French artillery officer. In 1769 he built and ran a three-wheeled carriage, with the idea that it might be used for pulling guns. It was a very clumsy vehicle that shot into the air when it reached the top speed of three miles an hour. In November 1881 French inventor Gustave Trouve demonstrated a working three-wheeled automobile at the International Exhibition of Electricity in Paris. But the first automobile to be patented was the one powered by an Otto gasoline engine which was built by Karl Benz in Mannheim, Germany in 1885. He was granted the patent in January of the following year under the auspices of his major company, Benz & Cie.

Introduction

This project is on the automobile. This invention has helped the human race in many ways such as exploration, travel and entertainment, but also has affected the earth, its atmosphere and its inhabitants.

Positive Impacts

The automobile has had many positive impacts on the world. One of the early impacts of the automobile was it promoted the sport of auto racing. The designs of early automobiles were geared for racing. This was a logical purpose because racing provided great advertisement for the cars. Also, it was a way for the designers of the automobile to test their ideas.

These are some of the different races which have brought millions of dollars into the economy. The A1 Grand Prix, Bathurst, The Indianapolis 500 and The Lexmark Indy 300.

It also had one of its greatest impacts on the industries that directly contributed to the automobile. The fuel and tyre industry shared the greatest natural impact of the automobile.

The emergence of the automobile almost immediately revolutionized the petroleum industry. Before 1900, only a very small amount of petroleum was converted into gasoline. Basically, gasoline was regarded highly as an unattractive useless product. Gasoline was so unpopular that it was actually thrown away. With the arrival of the gasoline automobile, it helped to increase the amount of crude oil supply through the opening of new oil fields in Texas. Despite the expansion of the oil industry, it had trouble keeping up with the increasing number of automobile. Without the advent of automobiles, the petroleum industry would have been in trouble, luckily the automobile helped to revive the petroleum industry. If the petroleum industry had crashed thousands of people would not have their jobs.