Daimler, Gottlieb

Daimler, Gottlieb (dām`lər, Ger. gôt`lēp dīm`lər), 1834–1900, German engineer, inventor, and pioneer automobile manufacturer. His improvements in the internal-combustion engine, made in the 1880s, contributed largely to the development of the automobile industry. In 1890 he founded the Daimler Motor Company at Cannstatt, Germany.

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Daimler, Gottlieb (Wilhelm)

(born March 17, 1834, Schorndorf, Württemberg—died March 6, 1900, Cannstatt) German automotive inventor. Trained as an engineer, he cofounded an engine–-building company in 1882. He patented one of the first successful internal-combustion engines in 1885 and was the first to use a gasoline engine to power a bicycle (see motorcycle). Further innovations culminated in 1889 in a commercially feasible four-wheeled automobile. In 1890 the Daimler company was founded at Cannstadt, and in 1899 it produced the first Mercedes car. In 1926 it merged with the company founded by Karl Benz. See also Daimler-Chrysler AG.