AKA Jean Joseph Etienne Lenoir

Born: 12-Jan-1822
Birthplace: Mussy-la-Ville, Belgium
Died: 4-Aug-1900
Location of death: La Varenne-Saint-Hilaire, France
Cause of death: unspecified
Remains: Buried, Cimetière du Père Lachaise, Paris, France

Gender: Male
Religion: Christian
Race or Ethnicity: White
Occupation: Inventor

Nationality: France
Executive summary: Internal-combustion engine

Self-taught chemist and inventor Étienne Lenoir built the first practical internal-combustion engine, with valves allowing both the intake of an air-fuel mixture and the outflow of exhaust. Powered by a mixture of ethylene, hydrogen, and methane, about 500 of Lenoir's engines were built and used in fixed-location industrial applications (lathes, pumps, and printing, etc.) across England and France. In 1862 Lenoir installed an internal combustion engine on a carriage and made a short test trip at about half of normal walking speed, which inspired Nikolaus Otto and others, leading to development of the automobile.

    Belgian Ancestry
    French Ancestry

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