Benz, Karl, and Daimler, Gottlieb

Dates of birth: Benz: November 25, 1844; Daimler: March 17, 1834.

Places of birth: Benz: Karlsruhe, Baden, present-day Germany; Daimler: Schorndorf, Wurttemberg, present-day Germany.

Died: Benz: April 4, 1929; Daimler: March 6, 1900.

Major contributions: Pioneers in auto­mobile engines and founders of a company that advanced airplane and airplane engine design; Benz: inventor of the gasoline-powered automobile; Daimler: co-inventor of the first powered balloon to fly successfully.

Benz, Karl, and Daimler, Gottlieb

О The Benz three-wheeler of 1885, with its

internal combustion engine, is widely considered to be the first gasoline-powered automobile.

K

arl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler were engineers who designed pioneering automobiles and car engines. Their work produced advanced designs that paved the way for aircraft engines. The two men never met, but the company that formed by merging their two businesses later produced important German aircraft engines.

Trained as an engineer, Karl Benz took an interest in developing an engine for a horseless carriage, or automobile. Another German, Nikolaus Otto, invent­ed an internal combustion engine using a four-stroke piston in 1876. Two years later Benz invented a two-stroke version that improved on Otto’s design. Benz also designed several other key features of an automobile, including the spark plug, carburetor, clutch pedal, and gearshift. In 1885 he invented a vehicle run by a gasoline-powered engine. Although it had only three wheels, it is considered by historians to be the first practical, purpose-built automobile.

By 1899, the company Benz had formed was making more than 600 cars-now with four wheels-each year. For several years, his company was a leading automaker. A racecar it built in 1909 set a land speed record of 142 miles per hour (228 kilometers per hour).

Gottlieb Daimler also studied engi­neering and then partnered with Wilhelm Maybach, another mechanical engineer, to develop better engines. In 1885 they placed an engine on a bicycle, creating the world’s first motorcycle. Two years later, Daimler and Maybach

Подпись: О In November 1885, Gottlieb Daimler installed a small version of his innovative engine on a wooden bicycle, creating the first gasoline- powered motorcycle. It is on display in a museum in Neckarsulm, Germany. Подпись:Подпись:produced the first speedboat. The next year, they placed an engine on a balloon, which was flown over the town of Seelberg. In 1890 Daimler and Maybach formed a company, but they often fell into conflict with other managers. Maybach himself left the company in 1891, and Daimler at one point lost his job as technical director. In 1900, after several years of ill health, Daimler died.

Both companies suffered in the 1920s. Germany’s economy was shattered after the nation’s defeat in World War I, and few people had the money to buy automobiles. In 1926 the companies merged to form Daimler – Benz. The new company achieved some success. It named its car the Mercedes – Benz, combining Daimler’s most popular model with the Benz name. Three years after the merger, Karl Benz died.

The company’s gains were partly fueled by a new field-developing aircraft engines. In the late 1920s, Daimler-Benz developed a powerful twelve-cylinder aircraft engine. In 1934, the company produced a landmark air­craft engine, the DB600. With more power and greater endurance than other engines, it was quickly adopted by German airplane manufacturers.

Подпись:Подпись:By the late 1930s, Germany’s leaders were ignoring a World War I peace treaty that had banned Germany from manufacturing military airplanes. Many of the aircraft built by the Germans