Breaking News!!! America Invented the Automobile. USA USA USA!!!
Oh dear, I honestly thought Obama wasnt going to be just another ignorant fuckwit.
This guys comment kind of sums it all up
"Well if Al Gore can invent the internet and John McCain can invent the Blackberry, then why can't America invent the automobile? "
(
lord turkey boy and the cleft of venus, Wed 25 Feb 2009, 22:04,
Reply)
Well
The birth of the automobile isn't as clear-cut as saying it happened on date X courtesy of inventor Y.
Check out American George Brayton 6 years before Benz with an internal combustion engine, or George Seldon beating Benz to market with a practically-sized model by several years, and whose patent included a 4-wheel car rather than just the engine. Who should rightfully get the credit? Does choosing "wrong" really make one an ignorant fuckwit?
(, Wed 25 Feb 2009, 22:28, Reply)
if you're on b3ta and you try to give America credit for anything
then yes, it does. Or at least you're made to feel that way.
(
Shiksa, Wed 25 Feb 2009, 23:34,
Reply)
It's times like these
that I really love having a British manwife to hide behind. That way no one can see me dribbling and eating pork rinds whilst staring vacantly into the middle distance.
(
notmoro and mrnotmoro : formerly Ishamael and his Missus, Thu 26 Feb 2009, 12:59,
Reply)
Well...................
Nicolas Cugnot a French inventor built a steam powered car in 1769. It is actually rumoured that an Italian priest, Ferdinand Verbiest, may have built the first steam powered automobile as early as 1672.
Benz built a three-wheeled car using an internal combustion engine in 1885 and was selling them by 1887 and a 4 wheel version 4 years later.
With regards to George Brayton, he may or may not have invented the internal combustion engine before Benz, however history recognises inventors by the date of their patents and his wasnt granted till 1895. This is the reason that Thomas Edison still gets the credit for inventing the incandescent light bulb even though he was beaten to it by others.
(
lord turkey boy and the cleft of venus, Thu 26 Feb 2009, 0:28,
Reply)
seriously
there's *no* right answer to this. It's the same for the telephone, television, light bulb and many more beside.
But his statement suits its purpose. Which just goes to prove that semantics and multiple choice answers are your friends when speech-writing. Nothing more, dearie.
(, Thu 26 Feb 2009, 0:12, Reply)
^this
not quite sure where the jump too "he's an idiot" came from in op
(, Thu 26 Feb 2009, 0:14, Reply)
Actually I disagree, there is a right answer
History and patents decide who invented what, rightly or wrongly. I could quite easily fraudulently claim to have invented the iPhone however I have no legal proof that I did so. That is why legally recognised patents are used to determine who has the right to claim an invention. The person who gets their application approved first wins that right, rightly or wrongly and for the sakes of this argument the inventor of the first auto mobile using an internal combustion engine was most certainly a German.
(
lord turkey boy and the cleft of venus, Thu 26 Feb 2009, 0:42,
Reply)