History of the internal combustion engine

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• Before 100 AD: The fire piston is invented in Southeast Asia, and its use is concentrated in Austronesia. This device and the aforementioned Diesel's experiences with pneumatic pumps, inspired the Diesel engine, which also uses compression ignition (as opposed to spark ignition).{{citation|url=http://inet.museum.kyoto-u.ac.jp/conference02/MasanoriOGATA.html|title=Origin of Diesel Engine is in Fire Piston of Mountainous People Lived in Southeast Asia|access-date=2020-12-01|last1=Ogata|first1=Masanori|first2=Yorikazu|last2=Shimotsuma|date=October 20–21, 2002|work=First International Conference on Business and technology Transfer|publisher=Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070523214754/http://inet.museum.kyoto-u.ac.jp/conference02/MasanoriOGATA.html|archive-date=2007-05-23|url-status=dead}}{{citation|last1=Needham|first1=Joseph|title=Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology, Part 2, Mechanical Engineering|date=1965|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521058032|pages=140–141|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SeGyrCfYs2AC}}
• 10th to 13th century: The fire arrow, a gunpowder-fuelled form of rocket engine, is invented in China.Chapters 1–2, Blazing the trail: the early history of spacecraft and rocketry, Mike Gruntman, AIAA, 2004, ISBN 156347705X.
• 1678–1679: The Huygens' engine, a prototype single-cylinder gunpowder engine is built by Dutch inventor Christiaan Huygens.
• 1745 : Abbot Agostino Ruffo of Verona testing a pump for leaks noticed that, after pressurization the wood plug had been scorched. Later he made an apparatus to further study timber ignition by pumps.See:

• [https://books.google.com/books?id=Kglfmkp5AFoC&pg=PA307 "Nuova Osserv(azioni) sopra l'Aria condensata dentro d'una Siringa"] [New observation on air condensed inside a syringe] (1745) Giornale de' Letterati, 1 : 307–308. (in Italian)
• Govi, Gilberto (1876) [https://books.google.com/books?id=BZdpAAAAcAAJ&pg=RA1-PA41 "Sull'invenzione dell'Accendi-fuoco Pneumatico"] [On the invention of pneumatic fire lighters], Atti della Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, 2nd series, 3 (2) : 41–44. (in Italian)
• Govi, Gilberto (1876) [https://books.google.com/books?id=0oVpAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA541 "Sur l'invention du briquet pneumatique"] (On the invention of the pneumatic lighter), Comptes rendus, 83 : 541–543. (in French)
• (Editorial staff) (September 21, 1876) [https://books.google.com/books?id=yaNFAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA468 "Societies and Academies: Paris: Academy of Sciences, Sept. 4,"] Nature, 14 : 468.
• 1780s: An "electric pistol", which used an electric spark to ignite hydrogen gas in an enclosed vessel, is invented by Italian chemist Alessandro Volta.{{cite web|url=http://ppp.unipv.it/Volta/Pages/eF5struF.html|title=ELECTRIC PISTOL|website=ppp.unipv.it}} This is possibly the first example of a spark-ignition heat engine.
• 1791: The principle for a gas turbine engine is described in the patent A Method for Rising Inflammable Air for the Purposes of Producing Motion and Facilitating Metallurgical Operations by British inventor John Barber.
• 1794: A reciprocating piston engine is built by Robert Street. This engine was fuelled by gas vapours, used the piston's intake stroke to draw in outside air, and the air/fuel mixture was ignited by an external flame.{{Cite web|url=http://www3.eng.cam.ac.uk/DesignOffice/projects/cecil/history.html|title=The Hydrogen Engine|website=www3.eng.cam.ac.uk}} Another gas engine was also patented in 1794 by Thomas Mead.{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/moderngasoilengi00spierich|title=Modern gas and oil engines|first=Albert|last=Spies|publisher=New York, The Cassier's magazine company|quote=in 1794, Thomas Mead and Robert Street both obtained patents in England for gas or vapor engines, Mead proposing to raise the piston in his engine cylinder by the ignition of a gaseous, explosive mixture and to utilize for the down-stroke both the weight of the piston and the partial vacuum formed underneath it. |via=Internet Archive|date=1892–95}}
• 1801: The concept of using compression in a two-stroke gas engine was theorised by French engineer Philippe LeBon D’Humberstein.{{cite web |title=All hail the Pyréolophore |url=https://thejohnrobson.com/blog/all-hail-the-pyreolophore |website=John Robson |date=20 July 2016 |access-date=1 January 2023}}
• 1807: One of the first known working internal combustion engines – called the Pyréolophore – is built by French inventors Claude Niépce and Nicéphore Niépce. This single prototype engine used a series of controlled dust explosions and was used to power a boat upstream in the river Saône in France.
• 1807: The hydrogen-fuelled De Rivaz engine is built by Swiss engineer François Isaac de Rivaz and fitted to a wheeled carriage, possibly creating the first known automobile.{{cite web |url=http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aacarsgasa.htm?rd=1 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120711004103/http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aacarsgasa.htm?rd=1 |url-status=dead |archive-date=11 July 2012 |title=The History of the Automobile - Gas Engines |publisher=About.com |date=2009-09-11 |access-date=2009-10-19 }} This prototype engine used spark-ignition (as per the 1780s Alessandro Volta design above).
• 1823: The concept of a gas vacuum engine is patented by British engineer Samuel Brown. One of Brown's engines was used to pump water at a canal in London from 1830 to 1836.
• 1824: The Carnot cycle – a thermodynamic theory for heat engines – is published in a research paper by French physicist Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot.
• 1826: A patent for the principle of a "gas or vapor engine" is granted to American inventor Samuel Morey.{{cite book|title=Samuel Morey and his atmospheric engine|first=Horst O.|last=Hardenberg|location=Warrendale, Pa.|publisher=Society of Automotive Engineers|year=1992|series=SP-922|isbn=978-1-56091-240-8}} The patent includes the first known design for a carburetor.
• 1833: A patent for a double-acting gas Lemuel Wellman Wright, UK patent no. 6525, table-type gas engine. Double-acting gas engine, first record of water-jacketed cylinder.Dugald Clerk, "Gas and Oil Engines", Longman Green & Co, (7th Edition) 1897, pp. 3–5.
• 1838: A patent for the principle of a double-acting gas engine is granted to British inventor William Barnett. This is the first known design to propose in-cylinder compression and the use of a water jacket for cooling.Dugald Clerk, "Gas and Oil Engines", Longman Green & Co, 1897.

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• 1853–1857: A patent for the principle of the free-piston Barsanti–Matteucci engine is granted to Italian mathematician Eugenio Barsanti and engineer Felice Matteucci. The design was intended to provide power by the vacuum in the combustion chamber pulling the piston downwards, following the explosion of a gas fuel within the combustion chamber.{{cite web|title=The Historical Documents|work=Barsanti e Matteucci|publisher=Fondazione Barsanti & Matteucci|year=2009|url=http://www.barsantiematteucci.it/inglese/documentiStorici.html|access-date=2013-11-01|url-status=dead|archive-date=2017-02-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170225042248/http://www.barsantiematteucci.it/inglese/documentiStorici.html}}{{cite book|author=Ricci, G.|chapter=The First Internal Combustion Engine|title=The Piston Engine Revolution|editor=Starr, Fred |display-editors=etal |location=London|publisher=Newcomen Society|year=2012|isbn=978-0-904685-15-2|pages=23–44|display-authors=etal}}
• 1860: Belgian-French{{cite book |last1=Taylor |first1=Michael J.H. |title=Milestones of Flight |year=1983 |publisher=Jane's |isbn=9780710602589}} engineer Jean Joseph Etienne Lenoir invented an atmospheric (non-compression) gas engine, using a layout similar to a horizontal double acting steam engine.{{cite web |title=The Motor Museum in Miniature |url=https://www.themotormuseuminminiature.co.uk/inv-jeanjoseph-etienne-lenoir.php |website=www.themotormuseuminminiature.co.uk |access-date=2 January 2023}} The design's patent was titled Moteur à air dilaté par combustion des gaz. Allegedly, in 1860, several of these engines were built and used commercially in Paris.Friedrich Sass: Geschichte des deutschen Verbrennungsmotorenbaus von 1860 bis 1918, Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg 1962, {{ISBN|978-3-662-11843-6}}{{refpage|p15}} By 1867, about 280 units of the Lenoir engine had been built. Friedrich Sass considers the Lenoir engine to be the first functional internal combustion engine.{{refpage|p11}}
• 1861: The principle for the four-stroke engine is described by French engineer Alphonse Beau de Rochas in the essay titled Nouvelles recherches sur les conditions pratiques de l'utilisation de la chaleur et en général de la force motrice. Avec application au chemin de fer et à la navigation. De Rochas applied for a patent, however it was declared invalid two years later.{{refpage|p56-58}}
• 1862: A prototype four-stroke engine, created from a modified Lenoir engine, is built by German engineers Nicolaus Otto and Michael Zons. The engine was only able to run for a few minutes before it self-destructed.{{refpage|p23}}{{cite web |title=125 Jahre Viertaktmotor |url=http://www.nicolaus-august-otto.de/node/15 |website=www.nicolaus-august-otto.de |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110507083259/http://www.nicolaus-august-otto.de/node/15 |archive-date=7 May 2011 |url-status=dead}}
• 1864–1875: The first petrol-powered automobile – a prototype handcart – is built by German inventor Siegfried Marcus.{{refpage|p79}}{{cite web |title=Siegfried Marcus - German inventor |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Siegfried-Marcus |website=www.britannica.com |access-date=2 January 2023 |language=en}}{{cite web |title=Siegfried Marcus Car |url=https://www.asme.org/about-asme/engineering-history/landmarks/203-siegfried-marcus-car |website=www.asme.org |access-date=2 January 2023 |language=en}}
• 1864: The first commercially successful internal combustion engine – a gas-fuelled atmospheric engine – is produced by German engineers Eugen Langen and Nicolaus Otto.{{refpage|p29-31}} The engine won a gold medal at the Paris Exhibition in 1867{{cite book |title=Ways of the world |date=1992 |publisher=Rutgers University Press |isbn=978-0-8135-1758-2 |page=152 |url=https://archive.org/details/waysofworldhisto00laym/page/152/mode/2up?q=1867&view=theater |access-date=2 January 2023}} and was patented in 1868.{{refpage|p31}} Fuel consumption of this engine was less than half that of the Lenoir and Hugon engines.{{refpage|p34-35}}
• 1865: The Hugon engine – an improved version of the Lenoir engine with flame ignition, better fuel economyRudolf Krebs: [https://books.google.com/books?id=-NTJBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA203 Fünf Jahrtausende Radfahrzeuge: 2 Jahrhunderte Straßenverkehr mit Wärmeenergie. Über 100 Jahre Automobile]. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg 1994, {{ISBN|9783642935534}}, p. 203. and water injection into the cylinders for cooling – is introduced by French engineer Pierre Hugon. This engine was produced commercially for applications such as printing presses and patent offices.
• 1872: The first commercial liquid-fuelled engine, the Brayton's Ready Motor was patented by American engineer George Brayton. This engine used constant pressure combustion and began commercial production in 1876.{{refpage|p413-414}}
• 1876: The first functional Otto cycle engine – called the Otto Silent Engine – is built by Nicholas Otto, Franz Rings and Herman Schumm at the German company Deutz-AG-Gasmotorenfabrik. The engine compressed the air/fuel mixture before combustion, unlike the other atmospheric engines of the time. The engine was a single-cylinder unit that displaced 6.1 dm³, and was rated 3 PS (2,206 W) at 180/min, with a fuel consumption of 0.95 m³/PSh (1.29 m³/kWh).{{refpage|p43-44}} Wilhelm Maybach later improved the engine by changing the connecting rod and piston design from trunk to crosshead, so it could be put into series production.{{refpage|p45}}
• 1876: Otto applied for a patent on a stratified charge engine that would use the four-stroke principle. The patent was granted in 1876 in Elsass–Lothringen, and transformed into a German Realm Patent in 1877 (DRP 532, 4 August 1877).{{refpage|p51-52}}
• 1879: A prototype two-stroke gas engine is built by German engineer Carl Benz.{{cite web |title=The Benz Patent-Motorwagen - The First Car in History |url=https://garagedreams.net/history/the-benz-patent-motorwagen-the-first-car-in-history |website= Garage Dreams |last1=Ben |access-date=4 January 2023 |date=17 May 2020}}

File:Lenoirmotor.jpg |1860 Lenoir gas motor

File:MW1 signiert klein.jpg |1864–1875 prototype Marcus cart

File:BraytonEngineLitho.jpg |1870s Brayton's Ready Motor

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• 1881: The first commercially successful two-stroke engine design is patented by Scottish engineer Dugald Clerk.{{cite web |title=Sir Dugald Clerk- Scottish engineer |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dugald-Clerk |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=4 January 2023 |language=en}}{{cite web |title=US249307A- Clerk |url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US249307A/en |website=Google Patents |access-date=4 January 2023 |date=8 November 1881 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230104072740/https://patents.google.com/patent/US249307A/en |archive-date=4 January 2023 }} This engine is amongst the earliest to use a supercharger.{{cite book |last1=McNeil |first1=Ian |title=An Encyclopaedia of the history of technology |date=1990 |publisher=London; New York : Routledge |isbn=978-0-203-33017-3 |page=315 |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediaofh00mcne/page/314/mode/2up?view=theater&q=dugald |access-date=4 January 2023}}
• 1885: The Benz Patent-Motorwagen – often considered to be the first automobile{{Cite book |last=Parissien |first=Steven |url=http://archive.org/details/lifeofautomobile0000pari_v0r8 |title=The life of the automobile : the complete history of the motor car |date=2014 |publisher=New York, N.Y. : Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin's Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-1-250-04063-3 |pages=2–5}} – is built. It was powered by a {{convert|0.55|kW|hp|2|abbr=on}} single-cylinder four-stroke engine.{{Cite web |title=The first automobile (1885–1886) |url=https://group.mercedes-benz.com/company/tradition/company-history/1885-1886.html |access-date=4 January 2023 |publisher=Mercedes-Benz Group}}
• 1885: The Daimler Reitwagen – often considered to be the first motorcycle{{Citation |title= Classic motorcycles |first= Mark |last= Gardiner |publisher= MetroBooks |year= 1997 |isbn= 1-56799-460-1 |page=16 }}{{Citation |last=Brown |first=Roland |year=2005 |title=The Ultimate History of Fast Motorcycles |publisher=Parragon |isbn=1-4054-5466-0 |location=Bath, England |page= 6}}{{Citation |title= The Ultimate Motorcycle Book |first= Hugo |last= Wilson |publisher= Dorling Kindersley |year= 1993 |isbn= 1-56458-303-1 |pages= [https://archive.org/details/ultimatemotorcyc0000wils/page/8 8–9] |url= https://archive.org/details/ultimatemotorcyc0000wils/page/8 }} – is built by German engineer Gottlieb Daimler. The Reitwagen was powered by the Grandfather clock engine, a high-speed (600 rpm), single-cylinder engine{{Cite book |last=Hendrickson III |first=Kenneth E. |title=The Encyclopedia of the Industrial Revolution in World History, Volume 3 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2014 |isbn=978-0810888883 |pages=236}} producing {{convert|0.37|kW|hp|abbr=on}}.
• 1888: The de Laval nozzle – used in various rocket engines and jet engines – is invented by Swedish engineer Gustaf de Laval.
• 1888: A rotary engine (not to be confused with a pistonless Wankel engine) is patented by French inventor Félix Millet. This five-cylinder engine was installed in the rear wheel of a bicycle for use in the 1894–1895 Millet motorcycle.
• 1889: The first V engine is built by German engineer Wilhelm Maybach.{{cite book |last1=Larson |first1=Len |title=Dreams to Automobiles |date=2008 |isbn=978-1-4691-0104-0 |page=171 |publisher=Xlibris Corporation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zSCLAAAAQBAJ&pg=PT181 |access-date=2 August 2020 |language=en}}
• 1889: The first aluminium engine block is created.{{cite book |url={{Google book|id=BXhTAAAAMAAJ|page=2|keywords=aluminum+engine+block|plain-url=yes}} |title=Automotive Manufacturing and Maintenance: Report of a Panel of the Interagency Task Force on Motor Vehicle Goals Beyond 1980 |publisher=Office of the Secretary of Transportation |location=US |year=1976}}
• 1891: The Hornsby–Akroyd oil engine – often considered a predecessor to the diesel engine – begins production. The engine was designed by English inventor Herbert Akroyd Stuart.
• 1892: The essay Theory and Construction of a Rational Heat Motor is written by German engineer Rudolf Diesel.{{refpage|p. 394}} The essay discusses several concepts that led to the invention of the diesel engine.
• 1897: The first functional diesel engine – called the Motor 250/400 and designed by Rudolf Diesel – is built by Maschinenfabrik Augsburg in Germany.
• 1897: The first flat engine is built by Carl Benz. The configuration used later became known as a boxer engine, due to the pistons "punching" back and forth simultaneously.{{Cite web |last=English |first=Bob |date=29 April 2010 |title=The engine that Benz built still survives |url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-drive/car-life/classic-cars/the-engine-that-benz-built-still-survives/article4317376/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131220085552/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-drive/car-life/classic-cars/the-engine-that-benz-built-still-survives/article4317376/ |archive-date=20 December 2013 |access-date=19 December 2013 |website=The Globe and Mail}}
• 1897: An ignition magneto is adapted for use in a motor vehicle engine by German engineer Robert Bosch.{{Cite web |title=On a January day in 1902 — a very special patent request of Robert Bosch |url=https://www.bosch.com/stories/high-voltage-magneto-ignition/ |access-date=4 January 2023 |publisher=Bosch}}

• 1902: The first V8 engine is built by French engineer Léon Levavasseur. The engine, called the Antoinette 8V, was used for early French airplanes.
• 1903: The first gas turbine that was able to produce more power than needed to run its own components is built by Norwegian inventor Ægidius Elling.{{cite tech report |title ="Centenary of the First Gas Turbine to Give Net Power Output: A Tribute to Ægidius Elling" |first1=Lars E. |last1=Bakken |first2=Kristin |last2=Jordal |first3 =Elisabet |last3=Syverud |first4=Timot |last4=Veer |publisher=The American Society of Mechanical Engineers |pages=83-88 |doi =10.1115/GT2004-53211 |year=2004}}
• 1904: The first overhead valve engine in a mass-production car is fitted to the American Buick Model B sedan.
• 1904 The first V12 engine is built by Putney Motor Works in London for use in racing boats. The engine is known as the "Craig-Dörwald" engine after Putney's founding partners.{{cite book |title=The V12 Engine |last =Ludvigsen |first=Karl |author-link=Karl Ludvigsen |publisher=Haynes |location=Sparkford, Yeovil | year=2005 |isbn=978-1-84425-004-2 |pages=14–19}}
• 1905: The exhaust-driven turbocharger is patented by Swiss engineer Alfred Büchi.
• 1905: Cylinder deactivation is employed for the first time. {{cite web |url =https://www.hemmings.com/stories/article/cadillac-v-8-6-4 |title=Cadillac V-8-6-4 |first =Jeff |last =Koch |website =Hemmings |location=US |date=2018-09-23 |access-date=2023-12-25}}
• 1907: {{ill|Boris Grigoryevich Lutskij|ru|Луцкий, Борис Григорьевич}} (Boris von Loutzkoy) builds a 6000 horse-power internal-combustion engine for the Russian torpedo-boat Vidnyj.

{{cite book

|last1 = Шавров

|first1 = Вадим Борисович

|year = 1986

|orig-date = 1969

|title = Istorija konstruktsij samoletov v SSSR do 1938 goda

|script-title = ru:История конструкций самолетов в СССР до 1938 года

|trans-title = History of aircraft contruction in the USSR to 1938

|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=aMr7AgAAQBAJ

|language = ru

|edition = 3, revised

|publication-place = Moscow

|publisher = Mashinostroyeniye

|pages = 130 - 131

|isbn = 9785458246354

|access-date = 30 March 2025

}}

• 1908: The first Holzwarth gas turbine tested in Germany. The Holzwarth is a form of constant-volume gas turbine where combustion takes place in a chamber closed off by valves.{{cite web|url =http://www.deutsches-museum.de/en/collections/machines/power-engines/gas-turbines/holzwarth-gas-turbine-1908/|title =Holzwarth Gas Turbine, 1908 |publisher=Deutsches Museum |website=www.deutsches-museum.de |access-date=2016-07-15 |archive-date=2018-03-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180314031505/http://www.deutsches-museum.de/en/collections/machines/power-engines/gas-turbines/holzwarth-gas-turbine-1908/ |url-status=dead}}{{cite web |title =Hans Holzwarth |url =https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Hans_Holzwarth |website =Grace's Guide |location=UK |date =2022-02-07 |access-date=5 January 2023}}{{cite web |title=Gas-turbine engine - Development of gas turbines |url =https://www.britannica.com/technology/gas-turbine-engine/Development-of-gas-turbines#ref134515 |website=Encyclopaedia Britannica |access-date=5 January 2023 |language=en}}
• 1908: The world's first rotary engine produced for aircraft in commercial quantities – the seven-cylinder Gnome Omega – begins production by French company Société Des Moteurs Gnome.{{cite web| url =https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/gnome-omega-no-1-rotary-engine| title=Gnome Omega No. 1 Rotary Engine | access-date=Aug 17, 2018 | author=Smithsonian Institution | year=2018| work=National Air and Space Museum | publisher =Smithsonian Institution | location= Washington, DC| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20180710071227/https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/gnome-omega-no-1-rotary-engine | url-status=dead | archive-date = July 10, 2018 }}
• 1910: The first overhead camshaft engine in a mass-production car is fitted to the Italian Isotta Fraschini Tipo KM luxury car.
• 1913: The ramjet design for a jet engine is patented by French engineer René Lorin.{{cite web |title =Engines and Innovation: Lewis Laboratory and American Propulsion Technology - Chapter 4 |id =SP-4306 |url =https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4306/ch4.htm#68 |first =Virginia P. |last =Dawson |website =NASA History |location=US |date =2004-08-06 |access-date=5 January 2023}}

• 1921: The concept of an axial-flow gas-turbine engine is patented by French engineer Maxime Guillaume.
• 1925: The first gasoline direct injection engine – the Hesselman engine for trucks and buses – is built by Swedish engineer Jonas Hesselman.{{cite book|title =Scania fordonshistoria 1891–1991 |year=1992 |language=sv |isbn=978-91-7886-074-6|last1=Lindh |first1=Björn-Eric |publisher=Streiffert }} (Translated title: Vehicle history of Scania 1891–1991){{cite book|title= Volvo – Lastbilarna igår och idag |year= 1987 |language=sv |isbn= 978-91-86442-76-7|last1= Olsson |first1= Christer |publisher= Förlagshuset Norden }} (Translated title: Volvo trucks yesterday and today)
• 1926: Theoretical improvements in the efficiency of jet engines are proposed in the research paper Aerodynamic Theory of Turbine Design by English engineer Alan Arnold Griffith. Among the suggestions are the design for a turboprop and changing the turbine blades from a flat profile into an airfoil.
• 1926: The first liquid-propellant rocket is built by American physicist Robert Goddard.
• 1926: The first double overhead camshaft engine for a production car is fitted to the English Sunbeam 3-litre sports car.
• 1927: An important reference book for jet engine design – Steam and Gas Turbines by Slovak engineer Aurel Stodola – is published.{{cite book|last=Dawson|first=Virginia Parker |title=Engines and Innovation: Lewis Laboratory and American Propulsion Technology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6jACAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA93|year=1991|publisher=National Aeronautics and Space Administration|isbn=978-0-16-030742-3|pages=93–}}
• 1930: The concept of a turbojet engine is patented by English engineer Frank Whittle. The first successful operation of this engine occurred in 1937.
• 1931: The first working pulsejet engine is designed by American engineer Robert Goddard.U.S. Patent 1,980,266
• 1935: The first mass-production diesel engine for a passenger car – the Mercedes-Benz OM 138 – begins production in Germany.
• 1937: The first turbojet engine – the Heinkel HeS 1 prototype engine – is built by German inventors Hans von Ohain and Ernst Heinkel. In 1939, the successor Heinkel HeS 3 engine completes the first flight of a turbojet-powered aircraft.

• 1941: The Caproni Campini C.C.2 motorjet, designed by the Italian engineer Secondo Campini, was the first aircraft to incorporate an afterburner. The first flight of a C.C.2, with its afterburners operating, took place on 11 April 1941.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2fueDwAAQBAJ&q=thermojet+campini&pg=PA11|title=Jet Prototypes of World War II: Gloster, Heinkel, and Caproni Campini's wartime jet programmes|last=Buttler|first=Tony|date=2019-09-19|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-4728-3597-0|language=en}}{{cite magazine |last=Alegi |first=Gregory |date=2014-01-15 |title=Secondo's Slow Burner, Campini Caproni and the C.C.2 |magazine=The Aviation Historian |issue=6 |page=76|issn=2051-1930 |location=United Kingdom}}
• 1942: The first operational jet engine-powered airplane – the German Messerschmitt Me 262 fighter-bomber airplane – completes its first flight.
• 1949: The first airplane powered by a ramjet engine – the Leduc 0.10 – completes a test flight. The ramjet engine was designed by French engineer René Leduc.
• 1952: The first gasoline fuel injection system for a production passenger car – a mechanical injection system produced by Robert Bosch GmbH – is used in the German Goliath GP700 small sedan.
• 1957: The first working prototype of the pistonless Wankel engine (sometimes called a rotary engine) is built by German engineer Felix Wankel.
• 1957: First usage of electronic fuel injection (EFI) in a production passenger car, using the American Bendix Electrojector system.
• 1967: The Rolls-Royce RB.203 Trent becomes the first three-spool engine.{{Cite magazine

|title=Commercial Aircraft Survey

|date=23 November 1967

|magazine=Flight International

|pages=856–857

|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1967/1967%20-%202261.html

}}

• 1969: The Pratt & Whitney JT9D engine was the first high bypass ratio jet engine to power a wide-body airliner.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kWJBDAAAQBAJ&dq=first+high+bypass+turbofan&pg=PA997|title=Fundamentals of Aircraft and Rocket Propulsion|first=Ahmed F.|last=El-Sayed|date=25 May 2016|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-1-4471-6796-9 |via=Google Books}}
• 1970: The first geared turbofan engine was created.
• 1979: Honda releases the Honda NR500 with oval pistons.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fpoF0PMZEjEC&dq=Honda+NR500+pistons&pg=PA58|title=Mick Walker's Japanese Grand Prix Racing Motorcycles|first=Mick|last=Walker|date=11 February 2002|publisher=Redline Books|isbn=978-0-9531311-8-1 |via=Google Books}}

• 1981: Ferrari 126C F1 car used a Hot vee turbocharged engine in 1981.

{{citation|title=The Coolest 'Hot Vee' Turbo Engines|author=Raphael Orlove|work=Jalopnik|date=September 9, 2014|url=https://jalopnik.com/the-coolest-hot-vee-turbo-engines-1632591852}}

• 1983: Isuzu builds a ceramic engine that runs on diesel and consumes half the fuel of other comparable engines of the time. Ceramic was used as the material in the cylinders of the engine.{{cite conference |url=https://www.sae.org/publications/technical-papers/content/880011/ |title=Development Status of Isuzu Ceramic Engine |first=Hideo |last=Kawamura |conference =SAE International Congress and Exposition |publisher=SAE |location=US |doi=10.4271/880011 |issn=0148-7191 |date=1988-02-01 |access-date=2023-12-17}}{{cite news |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1983/10/27/Isuzu-Motors-said-Thursday-it-has-developed-a-ceramic/3654436075200/ |title=Isuzu Motors said Thursday it has developed a ceramic... |work=UPI |location=US |date=1983-10-27 |access-date=2023-12-17}}
• 1985: The General Electric GE36 propfan runs for the first time.{{cite magazine |issn=0015-3710 |magazine=Flight International |title=UDF runs at full throttle |url=https://www.flightglobal.com/flightpdfarchive/view/1985/1985%20-%202798.html |department=Propulsion |pages=20–21 |location=Peebles, Ohio, USA |publication-date=October 12, 1985 |volume=128 |number=3981}}
• 1989: VTEC was introduced as a DOHC (dual overhead camshaft) system in Japan in the 1989 Honda Integra XSim{{cite web |url=http://world.honda.com/history/challenge/1989vtecengine/index.html |title= The VTEC Engine |access-date= 2011-03-11 |publisher= Honda Motor Co., Ltd. |archive-date= 2018-06-17 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180617122047/http://world.honda.com/history/challenge/1989vtecengine/index.html |url-status= dead }}
• Early 1990s: Carburetors had been replaced by fuel injection. {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aU-fDwAAQBAJ&dq=injection+replaced+carburetor+1990&pg=PT35|title=Automotive Innovation: The Science and Engineering behind Cutting-Edge Automotive Technology|first=Patrick|last=Hossay|date=12 July 2019|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=978-0-429-87729-2 |via=Google Books}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yLZeQwqNmdgC&pg=PA199 |title=World History of the Automobile |first=Erik |last=Eckermann |pages=199–200 |publisher=Society of Automotive Engineers |year=2001 |access-date=2016-05-09 |isbn=978-0-7680-0800-5}}
• 1991: Toyota develops laser-clad valve seats. They entered mass production in 1997.{{cite tech report |url=https://www.sae.org/publications/technical-papers/content/920571/ |title=Development of Engine Valve Seats Directly Deposited onto Aluminum Cylinder Head by Laser Cladding Process |first1=Minoru |last1=Kawasaki |first2=Koyu |last2=Takase |first3=Sinji |last3=Kato |first4=Masahiro |last4=Nakagawa |first5=Kazuhiko |last5=Mori |first6=Morie |last6=Nemoto |first7=Soya |last7=Takagi |first8=Hisashi |last8=Sugimoto |pages=17 |doi=10.4271/920571 |issn=0148-7191 |date=1992-02-01 |access-date=2023-12-19}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.laserfocusworld.com/industrial-laser-solutions/article/14221369/laser-cladding-improves-mass-production-of-engine-valve-seats|title=Laser cladding improves mass production of engine valve seats|date=1 July 2019|website=Laser Focus World}}
• 1995: Toyota introduces VVT-i.{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZvEdKgghU8YC&dq=toyota+vvt+i+1995&pg=PA32|title=Popular Science|first=Bonnier|last=Corporation|date=19 November 1995|publisher=Bonnier Corporation|via=Google Books}}
• 1998: From 1998 to 2000, the McLaren Formula One team used Mercedes-Benz engines with beryllium-aluminium-alloy pistons.{{cite web|last=Ward|first=Wayne|title=Aluminium-Beryllium|url=http://www.ret-monitor.com/articles/967/aluminium-beryllium/?|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100801083918/http://www.ret-monitor.com/articles/967/aluminium-beryllium/|archive-date=1 August 2010|publisher=Ret-Monitor|access-date=18 July 2012}} The use of beryllium engine components was banned following a protest by Scuderia Ferrari.{{cite web|last=Collantine|first=Keith|title=Banned! – Beryllium|url=http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2007/02/08/banned-beryllium/|access-date=18 July 2012|date=8 February 2007|archive-date=21 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120721090504/http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2007/02/08/banned-beryllium/|url-status=live}} At one point the material was also used in cylinder liners.{{cite news |url=https://www.crash.net/f1/news/33095/1/mclaren-engine-material-under-threat |title=Mclaren Engine Material Under Threat |work=Crash |location=UK |date=1998-09-24 |access-date=2023-12-19}}
• 2004: The first scramjet-powered airplane – the NASA X-43 prototype – completes a test flight.
• 2006: Mercedes-Benz adopts the use of twin-wire arc spraying to produce highly smooth cylinder liners.{{cite news |url=https://www.coatingsworld.com/contents/view_breaking-news/2011-09-13/nanoslide-iron-coating-to-be-used-in-mercedes-benz-diesel-engines-for-lower-consumption/7880 |title=Nanoslide Iron Coating to be used in Mercedes-Benz diesel engines for lower consumption |publisher=Coatings World|access-date=2023-12-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231218201600/https://www.coatingsworld.com/contents/view_breaking-news/2011-09-13/nanoslide-iron-coating-to-be-used-in-mercedes-benz-diesel-engines-for-lower-consumption/7880 |archive-date=2023-12-18 |url-status=dead}}
• 2006: The BMW Hydrogen 7 is offered with a hydrogen internal combustion engine{{cite web | url=https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a15147892/2007-bmw-hydrogen-7-car-news/ | title=2007 BMW Hydrogen 7 | date=September 2006 }}
• 2008: BMW N63 was the first production Hot vee turbocharged engine, used in the US-made BMW X6 since 2008.

{{citation|title=Here's How "Hot V" Turbocharged Engines Work|author=Brian Silvestro|work=Road & Track|date=October 4, 2017|url=https://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/car-technology/a12778835/hot-v-turbocharged-engines-explained/}}

• 2008: Ford publishes the use of a Plasma Transferred Wire Arc process for making highly smooth cylinder liners, used in mass production in 2015.{{cite tech report |first=K. |last1=Bobzin |first2=F. |last2=Ernst |first3=K. |last3=Richardt |first4=T. |last4=Schlaefer |first5=C. |last5=Verpoort |first6=G. |last6=Flores |title=Thermal spraying of cylinder bores with the Plasma Transferred Wire Arc process |publisher=Surface and Coatings Technology

|volume=202 |issue=18 |year=2008 |pages=4438-4443 |issn=0257-8972 |doi=10.1016/j.surfcoat.2008.04.023}}{{cite news |url=https://www.motortrend.com/news/ford-shows-you-how-it-uses-plasma-to-eliminate-cast-iron-cylinder-liners-in-gt350-and-gt350rs-screaming-flat-plane-v8/ |title=Ford Shows You How it Uses Plasma to Eliminate Cast-Iron Cylinder Liners in GT350 & GT350R's Screaming Flat-Plane V8 |first=Phillip |last=Thomas |work=Motor Trend |location=US |date=2015-10-14 |access-date=2023-12-23}}

• 2011: Mitsubishi develops a gas turbine with a combustion temperature of 1600°C.{{cite tech report |url=https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/GT/proceedings-abstract/GT2012/44694/599/289409?redirectedFrom=PDF |title=Evolution and Future Trend of Large Frame Gas Turbines: A New 1600 Degree C, J Class Gas Turbine |first1=Satoshi |last1=Hada |first2=Masanori |last2=Yuri |first3=Junichiro |last3=Masada |first4=Eisaku |last4=Ito |first5=Keizo |last5=Tsukagoshi |publisher=The American Society of Mechanical Engineers |doi=10.1115/GT2012-68574 |date=2013-07-09 |access-date=2023-12-23 |url-access=subscription}}
• 2013: General Electric starts development of the GE9X with a compression ratio of 61:1.{{Cite web|url=https://www.flightglobal.com/analysis-ge-opens-five-year-development-effort-for-777x-engine/109167.article|title=ANALYSIS: GE opens five-year development effort for 777X engine|first=Stephen|last=Trimble2013-03-22T16:05:00+00:00|website=Flight Global}}
• 2014: Liquidpiston shows a prototype of an engine with a design similar to an inverted Wankel engine: The combustion chamber is triangular while the rotor is oval.{{Cite web|url=https://www.greencarcongress.com/2014/11/20141119-lpi.html|title=LiquidPiston unveils 70cc rotary gasoline engine prototype embodying HEHC; power dense, low-vibration - Green Car Congress}}
• 2016: Qoros Auto shows a vehicle with a camless piston engine. In 2020, Koenigsegg showed the idea again.{{Cite web|url=https://www.hotcars.com/koenigsegg-freevalve-engine-technology-pros-cons-explained/|title=Why Everyone Forgot Koenigsegg's Revolutionary Freevalve Engine Technology|first=Kiran|last=Menon|date=17 May 2023|website=HotCars|access-date=18 December 2023|archive-date=18 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230518024350/https://www.hotcars.com/koenigsegg-freevalve-engine-technology-pros-cons-explained/|url-status=dead}}{{cite news |url=https://www.autoweek.com/news/technology/a31916574/free-valve-its-the-only-way-to-achieve-a-true-engine-democracy |title=Free Valve! It's The Only Way To Achieve A True Engine Democracy |first=Robin |last=Warner |work=Autoweek |location=US |date=2020-03-26 |access-date=2023-12-23}}/{{Cite web|url=https://www.enginelabs.com/news/failure-to-launch-what-happened-to-the-freevalve-cam-less-engine/|title=Whatever Happened to the Freevalve Zero Camshaft Engine?|first=Micah|last=Wright|date=16 May 2023|website=EngineLabs}}
• 2017: The 2019 Infiniti QX50 is available with a turbocharged Variable compression ratio engine.{{Cite news |url=http://www.autonews.com/article/20171121/BLOG06/171129932/a-look-inside-the-infiniti-vc-turbo-engine|title=A look inside the Infiniti VC-Turbo engine |first=Richard |last=Truett |work=Automotive News |location= |date=21 November 2017 |access-date=2023-12-17}}
• 2017: Achates Power shows a maximum brake thermal efficiency of 55 percent in a reciprocating engine.{{cite conference |url=https://www.sae.org/publications/technical-papers/content/2017-01-0638/ |title=Developing a 55% BTE Commercial Heavy-Duty Opposed-Piston Engine without a Waste Heat Recovery System |first1=Neerav |last1=Abani |first2=Nishit |last2=Nagar |first3=Rodrigo |last3=Zermeno |first4=Michael |last4=Chiang |first5=Isaac |last5=Thomas |publisher=Society Automotive Engineers |conference=World Congress Experience |doi=10.4271/2017-01-0638 |date=2017-03-28 |access-date=2023-12-23}}
• 2020: Maserati introduces pre-chamber ignition in its commercially available Nettuno engine.{{Cite web|url=https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/technology/under-skin-how-maseratis-new-v6-more-potent|title=Under the skin: How Maserati's new V6 is more potent|website=Autocar}}{{cite news |url=https://www.motortrend.com/features/2022-maserati-mc20-nettuno-v-6-engine-tech/ |title=We Dive Deep Into Maserati's New Nettuno V-6 |first=Frank |last=Markus |work=Motor Trend |location=US |date=2021-02-11 |access-date=2023-12-23}}
• 2021: During the COP26 conference, 24 countries committed to all new cars sold being zero emission vehicles (effectively banning the production of petrol-powered or diesel-powered cars) by the year 2040.
• 2022: The Avadi MA-250 engine features a design in which the piston and connecting rods rotate during engine operation.{{cite news |url=https://www.diariomotor.com/noticia/motor-avadi-ma-250/ |title=Ingenieros crearon un revolucionario motor de combustión de 1 único tiempo que integra admisión, compresión, combustión y escape en un solo ciclo teórico |trans-title=Engineers created a revolutionary single-stroke combustion engine that integrates intake, compression, combustion and exhaust in a single theoretical cycle |first=Martín |last=Jemes |website=diariomotor |location=Spain |language=Spanish |date=2024-04-29 |access-date=2024-06-03}}
• 2022: Hyundai stops internal combustion engine development.{{Cite web|url=https://arstechnica.com/cars/2022/01/hyundai-stops-engine-development-and-reassigns-engineers-to-evs/|title=Hyundai stops engine development and reassigns engineers to EVs|first=Jonathan M.|last=Gitlin|date=3 January 2022|website=Ars Technica}}
• 2023: The first ammonia powered engine for cars is developed by GAC Group.{{Cite web|url=https://newatlas.com/automotive/gac-china-ammonia-engine/|title=GAC China says it's building "world first" ammonia engine for cars|date=27 June 2023|website=New Atlas}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-06-26/china-s-gac-unveils-world-s-first-ammonia-car-engine|title=China's GAC Unveils World's First Ammonia Car Engine|newspaper=Bloomberg |date=26 June 2023|via=www.bloomberg.com}}
• 2024: WinGD, announces testing of variable compression ratio on a two stroke marine low speed engine.{{cite news |url=https://www.powerprogress.com/news/wingd-to-start-field-tests-of-marine-vcr-tech/8038680.article |title=WinGD to start field tests of marine VCR tech |first=Julian |last=Buckley |work=Power Progress International |location=UK |date=13 August 2024 |access-date=2024-10-20}}

• Timeline of heat engine technology
• Timeline of motor vehicle brands

{{reflist}}

{{Automotive industry|state=expanded}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of The Internal Combustion Engine}}

Internal combustion engine

Category:Internal combustion engine

Category:Belgian inventions

Category:Articles containing video clips