The History of the Gasoline Engine — The Inventor Who Got It Wrong

Nicolaus August Otto's engine patent was upheld in England and struck down in Germany over the same French pamphlet. And his own main claim was wrong. Enjoyed this documentary? Subscribe for more deep dives into the world's most powerful machines: 👉 Construction Legends:    / @constructionlegends   ☕ Support our work: https://buymeacoffee.com/Construction... 📖 Our illustrated e-book "Steel, Steam & Nerve": https://parrrkmedia.de/constructionle... In 1876, a former coffee salesman with no engineering degree built the four-stroke engine in Cologne, the cycle that still runs almost every gasoline car. This documentary follows Nicolaus August Otto from a prototype that shook itself apart in 1862 to the gold medal in Paris in 1867, the fight with Gottlieb Daimler, and the patent war that ended on January 30, 1886, one day after Carl Benz filed his car patent. And it shows why the idea Otto was proudest of, the stratified charge, was wrong. MORE FROM CONSTRUCTION LEGENDS ⚙️ The History of the Diesel Engine — The Machine That Killed Its Inventor:    • The History of the Diesel Engine — The Mac...   ✈️ The History of the Jet Engine. Germany Flew It First:    • The History of the Jet Engine. Germany Fle...   🔥 The History of Cheap Steel — The Fraud Who Built the Modern World:    • The History of Cheap Steel — The Fraud Who...   📌 CHAPTERS 00:00 Two Courts, One Pamphlet 01:38 The Coffee Salesman Who Wanted Engines 11:49 The Four-Stroke and the Wrong Idea 21:04 The Patent War 31:13 The Name on the Engine SOURCES Deutsche Biographie (NDB/ADB), Otto, Nikolaus August: https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/sf... Lynwood Bryant, The Origin of the Four-Stroke Cycle (Technology and Culture, 1967): https://muse.jhu.edu/article/894458/s... Sáiz & Amengual, Industrial and Corporate Change (2018): https://www.ibcnetwork.org/gestion/up... Mercedes-Benz Archive, Gottlieb Daimler: https://mercedes-benz-publicarchive.c... Mercedes-Benz Archive, Benz Patent Motor Car: https://mercedes-benz-publicarchive.c... BMW Group Classic, History: https://www.bmwgroup-classic.com/en/c... #enginehistory #nicolausotto #fourstroke #engineering #documentary #construction #heavymachinery