Transportation | Peter Schulte

Thomas Davenport invents what is perhaps the world’s first electric vehicle

As early as 1834, he and his wife Emily Davenport developed a battery-powered electric motor. They used it to operate a small model car on a short section of track, paving the way for the later electrification of streetcars. It was the first-ever attempt to apply electrification to locomotion. With his wife Emily and colleague Orange Smalley, Davenport received the first American patent on an electric machine in 1837, U. S. Patent No. 132.

Karl von Drais on his original Laufmaschine

German inventor Karl von Drais invents the bicycle

Peter Schulte / November 3, 1817

In 1817, Drais debuted a two-wheeled vehicle, known by many names throughout Europe, including Draisienne, dandy horse and hobby horse.

Floating Dock. Woodcut from Venice (1560)

The Chinese of the Song Dynasty invent dry docks

Peter Schulte / November 28, 1050

A dry dock is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform.

Initial construction of Grand Canal in China is completed

Peter Schulte / January 25, 1003

The Grand Canal is a vast waterway system in the north-eastern and central-eastern plains of China, running from Beijing in the north to Zhejiang province in the south. It was conceived as a unified means of communication for the Empire for the first time in the 7th century C.E. (Sui dynasty).

Early Scandinavians invent the longship

Peter Schulte / August 28, 1002

Originally invented and used by the Vikings for commerce, exploration, and warfare, many of the longship’s characteristics were adopted by other cultures.

Humans from the Andronovo culture of the central Eurasian steppe invent the chariot (~2,000 B.C.E. ???)

Peter Schulte / February 28, 1002

The earliest fully developed spoke-wheeled horse chariots are from the chariot burials of the Andronovo (Timber-Grave) sites of the Sintashta-Petrovka Proto-Indo-Iranian culture in modern Russia and Kazakhstan from around 2000 B.C.E.

The Ancient Egyptians invent boat docks

Peter Schulte / February 5, 1002

The earliest known docks were those discovered in Wadi al-Jarf, an ancient Egyptian harbor dating from 2500 B.C.E. located on the Red Sea coast.

The wheel is invented in Mesopotamia, initially used for pottery

Peter Schulte / April 25, 1001

Evidence indicates they were created to serve as potter’s wheels around 3500 B.C. in Mesopotamia, 300 years before someone figured out to use them for chariots.

The Sweet Track and Post Track causeways are built in Somerset Levels in modern-day England

Peter Schulte / April 4, 1001

The Sweet Track is a Neolithic timber walkway, located in the Somerset Levels, England. It was originally part of a network of tracks built to provide a dry path across the marshy ground.

The Egyptians and Phoenicians invent the sailboats

Peter Schulte / March 18, 1001

The Phoenicians and Egyptians sailed under cloth sails on single log and simple long narrow sailboats.