Inventors
Carl and Bertha Benz
1844–1929 / 1849–1944 · Automobile as a usable product
Mannheim
Carl patented a three-wheeled gasoline carriage in 1886. Bertha took it to Pforzheim in 1888, inventing the road trip, the fuel stop, and user testing in one day. Chronotech files them together: a patent is not a technology until someone drives it until it breaks and mends it.
Why it mattered
- Packaged engine, chassis, and fuel as one object.
- Proved the car on a public road, not only on paper.
