INVENTIONS IN TRANSPORT

WHO INVENTED FIRST CAR?

The first car which was steam powered was invented by Ferdinand Verbiest in 1672 in China. Nicholas Cugnot was the one to design and build the first car that was self propelled in 1769 which had three wheels. A Swiss inventor, Francois Isaac Rivaz, designed and invented the first car that used the mixture of hydrogen and oxygen as a fuel, the car with an internal combustion engine in the year 1806. The car was not successful. It was in the year 1885 that a car run by gasoline was designed and built by Karl Benz, in Germany. The car got its patent in 1886. He was the one to be considered as the inventor of the first car. His inventions also add an in built combustion flat engine car, eleven years later, in 1896.

The other person who has been credited as the inventor of the car is Gottlieb Daimler but Benz was the one to get his design patented first.

Later both of them merged their companies as Daimler- Benz, the company which manufactures the brand cars; Mercedes Benz. The brand got the name from the person named, Emil Jellinek who sold Daimler- Benz cars and finally decided to sell these cars in the name of his daughter Mercedes.

The history of cars has changed from steam, combustion, gasoline to petrol and diesel and the long ago designed cars have been left far behind in this race.

WHO INVENTED ZEPPELIN?

Zeppelin was invented in 1900 by a military officer of German origin named Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin. It was a stiff framed airship, LZ-I that flew on 2nd July, 1900 carrying five passengers near Lake Constance in Germany. Zeppelins were used in the times of peace as well as war. More than 100 zeppelins were used in the World War I. Although Zeppelin structure was made of aluminum it was covered with cloth. It had hydrogen cells that were seventeen in number and two 15- horsepower Daimler internal combustion engines each helped in turning the two propellers. The size of the zeppelin was 420 feet in length and 38 feet in diameter.

Ferdinand Zeppelin joined Prussian army in 1858. He served the country in Seven Weeks War and in the Franco- Prussian war. During the American Civil war, he worked as an observer with the Union army. It was in 1891 that he retired from the army and got into building of airships and finally in 1900 he introduced zeppelin. The first Zeppelin flew to 3.7 miles of area in about 17 minutes and touched the heights of 1300 feet without crashing. It was in 1908 that for further development of aerial navigation and the building of airships. Ferdinand formed Friederichshafen (The Zeppelin Foundation). Now all rigid airships are casually called zeppelin. From time to time the Zeppelin Foundation is taking care of improving and developing zeppelins.

WHO INVENTED  BICYCLE?

The term bicycle dates from 1869. To answer a question as to who invented a bicycle is not easy. To come into the form which we find today, bicycle has passed through many phases and through many people. The first bicycle called Velocipede was built by the French nobleman Comte de Sivrac in 1791 . It had two wheels, a saddle and was foot powered. Another bicycle was invented in 1817 in Germany by Baron Von Drais . It was made of wood and had a steerable front wheel without a pedal. This bicycle was first exhibited in Paris. A Scottish blacksmith named Kirkpatrick Macmillan made the first mechanical bicycle in1839. It was driven by pressing down the treadles that moved up and down and turned the back wheel. He was born in Coathill, Scotland in the year 1812. Born to a blacksmith he tried many jobs but finally settled down with his father. On seeing someone ride velocipede he decided to make one for himself and ended making a tremendous change by adding paddles to it.

In England, in the year 1879 Henry John Lawson invented the first rear chain drive bicycle.

In 1888 John Dunlop gave pneumatic tyres and made the ride more comfortable and easier. There are about a billion bicycles in the world and its production is more than that of cars.

WHO INVENTED TRAFFIC SIGNAL?

The first efficient traffic signal was invented in 1923 by Garrett A. Morgan. Garrett A. Morgan was an African- American inventor. As soon as the automobiles were introduced in the 20^th century the condition of traffic deteriorated and the roads were full of accidents. There was an urgent need to control traffic, many inventors came forward with their inventions of traffic signals and most of them were manually operated. In 1923 Morgan of Cleveland, Ohio got the patent for his traffic signal. It was a t-shaped rod which managed three activities- stop, go and all stop for all directions. All stop was the time for pedestrians to cross the road safely. This was also a manually operated signal. The rights of his invention were sold to General Electric Corporation by him. It was a good deal that paid him $ 40,000.

Garrett A. Morgan shifted to Ohio at the age of fourteen in search of job. He worked as a handyman for a landowner but continued his studies. In 1895, he moved to Cleveland and there he worked for a cloth manufacturer, repairing sewing machines for him. In 1907, he started his own shop of sewing machine and shoe repair. After two years he set up another business, a tailoring shop which used all the material made by Morgan. His inquisitive nature proved that the liquid used to polish the needle not only straightened the fabric but also hair and this was another invention of his.