The History of the Internal Combustion Engine

Nicholas Kuno was a French inventor who built the first car in the late 1700s. It used steam to power its engines and it could drive up speeds of about seven kilometers per hour. But steam engines were very large and they took a lot of work to run. Many other inventors tried to build a smaller steam-powered car that was easier to use. Cars did not become popular until someone invented a different kind of engine. Internal combustion engines are smaller than steam engines. And they can produce more power to push a car faster. This new engine made cars more popular around the world but for a long time only the very wealthy could buy them.