Automobile

German inventors Karl Benz (1844-1929) and Gottlieb Daimler (1834-1900) are both credited with having invented the first commercially viable, gasoline-powered automobiles. Benz and Daimler worked independently, unaware of each other's efforts. Both built compact, internal-combustion engines (engines containing cylinders within which heat-producing reactions take place) to power their vehicles. Benz constructed his three-wheeler in 1885; it was steered by a tiller (a device similar to the rudder of a boat). Daimler's four-wheeled vehicle was produced in 1887. Both established successful auto-manufacturing companies. In 1926, the two companies merged and began producing cars called Mercedes-Benz.