Cugnot is credited with developing the world's first self-propelled vehicle. Powered by a steam engine refined by Cugnot, his three-wheeled vehicle could carry four passengers and moved at a walking pace. Built in 1769 and first used the following...

1725-1804 French military engineer who built the world's first true automobile—a large steam-driven tricycle. While serving in the Austro-Hungarian army during the Seven Years War, Cugnot began to plot out ways to haul artillery. After...

Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot (26 February, 1725 – 2 October, 1804) was a French inventor. He is believed to have built the first self-propelled mechanical vehicle or automobile. This claim is disputed by some sources, however, which suggest that...