Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot successfully drives a globular steam boiler buggy through Paris. It was developed to pull a cannon for the French army.

Robert William Thomson patents his design for pneumatic tires, though they never go into production.

George Brayton invents the two-stroke constant pressure internal combustion engine. It was marketed as the "Ready Motor."

Nikolaus Otto invents the four-stroke compressed charge internal combustion engine, the first to use in-cylinder compression.

George B. Selden patents the first automobile using internal combustion, based on the Brayton Ready Motor.

Congress passes the Interstate Commerce Act, establishing the Interstate Commerce Commission. It was created to regulate the then-dominant railroad industry.

Frank and Charles Duryea produce the first successful American gas-propelled vehicle.

Rudolf Diesel publishes "Theory and Construction of a Rational Heat Motor."

Rudolf Diesel is granted a patent for an efficient, compression ignition engine.

Team Drivers' International Union (TDIU) is organized by the American Federation of Labor.

Winton Motor Carriage Co. sells the first manufactured "semi-truck" to haul cars.

A large group of teamsters leave the TDIU to form the Teamsters National Union in Chicago.

Teamsters International Union and Team Drivers International combine to form the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

Teamsters join the strike against Montgomery Ward and the Employers Association of Chicago. The world's first purpose-built gas station is constructed in St. Louis.