Internal Combustion Engine

Nikolaus Otto builds the four-stroke engine in 1876 - small, light drives free vehicles from rails and boilers.

Lenoir built a gas engine in 1860, Otto the four-stroke spark-ignition engine in 1876, Daimler and Maybach the high-speed gasoline engine in 1885, and Rudolf Diesel the compression-ignition engine in 1893. The high energy density of liquid fuels made cars, trucks, ships and aircraft possible. Road, air and sea still run mostly on oil.