Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
July 3, 1886 The Benz Patent-Motorwagen, which is widely regarded as the first functioning automobile, made its debut when inventor Karl Benz officially unveiled the motorized vehicle in the city of Mannheim in the present-day Federal Republic of Germany. (At the time, Mannheim was part of the German Empire state known as the Grand Duchy... Continue Reading →
June 7, 1911 Industrial designer Brooks Stevens was born in Milwaukee. His wide range of design efforts included many with a transportation theme of some kind. Stevens was stricken with polio as a child, and the experience proved to be pivotal in shaping his lifelong aspirations. While bedridden to deal with and ultimately prevail over... Continue Reading →
A few years before European automotive pioneers such as Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler introduced their own versions of the "horseless carriage," a lawyer and inventor from Rochester, New York, named George B. Selden filed the first U.S. patent for an automobile. Selden, who was 32 at the time, submitted a patent application for what... Continue Reading →
The trailblazing automobile manufacturer Winton Motor Carriage Company officially began operations in Cleveland. Scottish immigrant and marine engineer Alexander Winton, who previously produced bicycles, founded the company with George H. Brown and Thomas W. Henderson. The Winton Motor Carriage Company’s earliest automobiles were built entirely by hand. Each of these vehicles featured gas lamps, painted... Continue Reading →
On her 100th birthday, Hepsa Cottle lived it up by traveling in an automobile in her adopted hometown of New York City. “Aged Woman Enjoys Novel Celebration,” proclaimed a headline in the San Francisco Call. In its own account of Mrs. Cottle’s birthday ride, Automotive Industries magazine characterized her in a caption as “the Oldest... Continue Reading →
Automobile designer Gordon M. Buehrig died in Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan, at the age of 85. Buehrig had been born in Mason City, Illinois, in 1904. Early on in life, he developed a robust enthusiasm for automobiles and drawing pictures of them – an enthusiasm that wasn’t always readily shared or even encouraged by others. ... Continue Reading →
Briggs Cunningham, an entrepreneur and sportsman who made notable contributions involving both yachts and automobiles, was born in Cincinnati. Early on in life, Cunningham spent summers with his family in the northeastern United States. When he was a teenager, his family moved to Southport, Connecticut. Cunningham was 17 when he joined the Star Class racing... Continue Reading →
The Cadillac Motor Car Division of General Motors (GM) formally unveiled a pioneering type of automobile at the 30th annual National Auto Show at Grand Central Palace in New York City. “The first sixteen-cylinder engine to appear on an American motor car is introduced by Cadillac in its V-16 ‘super’ automobile exhibited for the first... Continue Reading →
In southeast France, Emil Jellinek took delivery of a pioneering type of automobile at a railway station in the city of Nice. The German-born Jellinek was a longtime Vienna native who first lived in Nice as an Austrian diplomat. After his diplomatic career came to an end, Jellinek continued to spend a great deal of... Continue Reading →
Tazio Nuvolari, whose world-renowned racing career encompassed both motorcycles and cars, was born in the commune of Castel d’Ario in northern Italy. He eventually became a longtime resident of the nearby city of Mantua. Nuvolari’s racing career first took shape in 1920 when he began racing motorcycles. His achievements at this point in his career... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 