Early Concepts:
* 1680s: Christian Huygens proposed an internal combustion engine powered by gunpowder, but it was never built.
Key Pioneers:
* 1791: John Barber patented a gas turbine engine, which uses an internal combustion process but is not considered a traditional internal combustion engine.
* 1807: François Isaac de Rivaz built a car powered by an engine using hydrogen and oxygen, but it was not very practical.
* 1824: Samuel Brown built a gas-powered engine that could produce mechanical work, but it was not a closed-cycle engine.
* 1854: Étienne Lenoir patented and built a practical internal combustion engine. It was a two-stroke engine using a mix of air and coal gas, and while it was unreliable, it was the first commercially successful internal combustion engine.
* 1859: Émile Beau de Rochas described the theoretical four-stroke cycle, which is the basis for most modern internal combustion engines.
* 1860s-1870s: Nikolaus Otto (in collaboration with Eugen Langen) developed a successful four-stroke engine using a mix of air and coal gas. This engine was more efficient and reliable than Lenoir's.
Later Advancements:
* 1886: Karl Benz built the first practical gasoline-powered automobile, utilizing a four-stroke engine.
* 1892: Rudolf Diesel created a compression-ignition engine that used heavier fuels like kerosene.
Therefore, while Émile Beau de Rochas is credited with the theoretical basis of the four-stroke cycle, Nikolaus Otto is often considered the father of the modern internal combustion engine**, due to his successful development of the four-stroke engine using gas fuel.
Ultimately, the internal combustion engine's evolution was a collaborative effort of many brilliant minds.
