Who was the first engine?

It depends on what “engine” you mean: the earliest described engine-like device is Hero of Alexandria’s aeolipile (1st century CE); the first practical steam engine is Thomas Newcomen’s atmospheric engine (1712), refined decisively by James Watt; the first commercially successful internal combustion engine is Étienne Lenoir’s (1860), followed by Nikolaus Otto’s landmark four-stroke (1876); Rudolf Diesel created the first successful diesel engine (1897); the first operational turbojets were built by Frank Whittle in Britain and Hans von Ohain in Germany (late 1930s); and the first internet search engine was Archie, created by Alan Emtage (1990). Below is how experts parse those “firsts.”

Why the phrase “first engine” is ambiguous

“Engine” spans centuries of evolving technology and multiple domains—mechanical power (steam, combustion, jet), transportation (automobiles, aircraft), and computing (search engines, game engines). Historians usually distinguish between a conceptual invention, a working prototype, a practical or commercially viable machine, and the first instance to achieve widespread adoption. Different “firsts” emerge depending on which criterion you prioritize.

Key firsts across engine types

The following list highlights widely recognized “firsts” by engine category, balancing earliest known concepts with the first practical or commercially successful machines.

• Earliest described engine-like device: Hero (Heron) of Alexandria’s aeolipile, a steam-driven reaction sphere (c. 1st century CE).
• Early steam power precursor: Thomas Savery’s “Miner’s Friend” (1698), a steam pump without a piston-cylinder, used for mine drainage.
• First practical steam engine: Thomas Newcomen’s atmospheric engine (1712), enabling large-scale pumping in mines.
• Transformative steam improvements: James Watt’s separate condenser and other advances (patents from 1769; rotary motion 1781), making steam power efficient and versatile.
• Earliest internal combustion concept: Christiaan Huygens (c. 1673–1680) experimented with a gunpowder-powered atmospheric engine.
• First commercially successful internal combustion engine: Étienne Lenoir’s double-acting gas engine (1860); his “Hippomobile” drove in 1863.
• First practical four-stroke engine: Nikolaus Otto (1876), implementing the four-stroke cycle described by Alphonse Beau de Rochas (1862).
• Automobile milestone: Karl Benz’s Patent-Motorwagen (1885–86) with a lightweight gasoline engine; contemporaneously, Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach built high-speed petrol engines (1885–86).
• First successful diesel engine: Rudolf Diesel’s compression-ignition engine (1897), demonstrated at MAN in Augsburg.
• First operational turbojets: Frank Whittle (UK) ground-tested a jet engine in 1937 and flew the Gloster E.28/39 in 1941; Hans von Ohain (Germany) bench-tested in 1937 and achieved the first jet-powered flight with the Heinkel He 178 in 1939.
• First internet search engine: Archie (1990), created by Alan Emtage at McGill University, indexing FTP archives; early web-specific engines included W3Catalog (1993) and ALIWEB (1993).

Taken together, these milestones show how “first” can fairly refer to different breakthroughs—from early conceptual devices to the first machines that transformed society at scale.

Timeline of pivotal “first engines”

This timeline places notable engine “firsts” in chronological order to show the progression from concept to transformative technology.

1. c. 1st century CE — Hero’s aeolipile (ancient steam reaction device).
2. 1698 — Thomas Savery patents “The Miner’s Friend,” an early steam pump.
3. 1712 — Thomas Newcomen builds the first practical steam engine for pumping mines.
4. 1769–1784 — James Watt’s patents and improvements (separate condenser, rotary motion) make steam engines efficient and widely useful.
5. 1860 — Étienne Lenoir’s gas engine becomes the first commercially successful internal combustion engine.
6. 1876 — Nikolaus Otto’s four-stroke internal combustion engine defines the dominant cycle for gasoline engines.
7. 1885–1886 — Benz’s Patent-Motorwagen and Daimler–Maybach’s high-speed petrol engines advance motor vehicles.
8. 1897 — Rudolf Diesel demonstrates a successful compression-ignition engine.
9. 1937–1941 — Whittle and von Ohain independently develop and fly turbojets (Germany’s He 178 first jet flight in 1939; Britain’s Gloster E.28/39 first flight in 1941).
10. 1990 — Alan Emtage’s Archie becomes the first internet search engine; early web search follows in 1993.

The sequence underscores how innovations often arrived in clusters, with independent teams solving similar problems within a few years of each other.

How historians decide what counts as “first”

Common criteria

When assigning “firsts,” scholars typically weigh several factors to avoid oversimplifying complex invention histories.

• Conceptualization: The earliest documented idea or description.
• Prototype: A working model proving feasibility.
• Practicality: A device that performs useful work reliably.
• Commercialization: Production and adoption beyond experiments.
• Impact: Lasting influence on technology and society.
• Independence: Parallel developments in different places.

Applying these criteria clarifies why multiple inventors can each be “first” in distinct, legitimate ways.

Summary

There is no single answer to “Who was the first engine?” If you mean the earliest engine-like device, it’s Hero’s aeolipile. The first practical steam engine is Newcomen’s (1712), modern steam power owes much to Watt. Lenoir (1860) and Otto (1876) anchor the early internal combustion era; Diesel (1897) created the first successful compression-ignition engine; Whittle and von Ohain pioneered the turbojet in the late 1930s; and in computing, Alan Emtage’s Archie (1990) is widely credited as the first internet search engine. Your “first” depends on the domain and whether you value the earliest concept, the first practical machine, or the one that changed the world.

Who invented the first engine?

There wasn’t a single inventor of the “first engine”; the development of engines occurred over centuries, with key milestones including Thomas Newcomen’s successful commercial steam engine in 1712 and Nicéphore Niépce’s successful internal combustion engine (the Pyréolophore) in 1807. Later innovations by figures like Etienne Lenoir, who created the first commercially successful internal combustion engine in 1860, and Nikolaus Otto, who patented the four-stroke internal combustion engine, further advanced engine technology. 
Early Steam Engines: 

• 1712: Thomas Newcomen developed the atmospheric engine, which was the first commercially successful engine to use a piston and cylinder.
• 1781: James Watt made significant improvements to the steam engine, including a mechanism to drive factory machinery.

Early Internal Combustion Engines:

• 1807: Nicéphore and Claude Niépce developed the Pyréolophore, the first internal combustion engine to power a boat. 
• 1808: Swiss engineer François Isaac de Rivaz created the first internal combustion automobile, a hydrogen-powered, spark-ignition engine. 
• 1860: Belgian-born Etienne Lenoir developed the first commercially successful gas-fired internal combustion engine. 
• 1877: Nikolaus Otto patented the four-stroke internal combustion engine. 

Key Contributors:

• Thomas Newcomen: Invented the first commercially successful steam engine. 
• James Watt: Made crucial improvements to the efficiency of the steam engine. 
• Nicéphore & Claude Niépce: Created the first internal combustion engine to power a boat. 
• Etienne Lenoir: Developed the first commercially successful internal combustion engine. 
• Nikolaus Otto: Patented the four-stroke internal combustion engine that is the basis of most modern gasoline engines. 

Was Ford or Benz first?

Karl Benz invented the first practical automobile, the 1885 Motorwagen, and received a patent for it in 1886. Henry Ford did not invent the car; he is recognized for revolutionizing automobile manufacturing with his invention of the moving assembly line, which led to the mass production of the popular Model T car.
 
Karl Benz and the First Automobile

• The Benz Patent-Motorwagen: Opens in new tabIn 1885, German engineer Karl Benz built the first automobile powered by a gasoline-fueled internal combustion engine. 
• A Unified Design: Opens in new tabHis three-wheeled vehicle, the Patent-Motorwagen, integrated the engine and chassis as a single unit, a significant advancement considered by many to be the first real automobile. 
• Mass Production: Opens in new tabThe Benz Patent-Motorwagen was also the first automobile to go into production, setting the stage for the automotive industry. 

Henry Ford and the Assembly Line

• Pioneering Mass Production: Opens in new tabWhile Ford did not invent the automobile, his most significant contribution was the creation of the first moving assembly line in 1913. 
• Revolutionizing Manufacturing: Opens in new tabThis innovative method allowed for the rapid and efficient production of cars by dividing the manufacturing process into small, specialized tasks. 
• The Model T’s Success: Opens in new tabThe Model T, introduced in 1908, was the first car to be produced using Ford’s mass-production techniques, making cars affordable and widely accessible to the public. 

Who made the first V8 engine, Ford or Chevy?

Neither Ford nor Chevrolet made the very first V8 engine; the V8 was invented by Léon Levavasseur in France for boats and airplanes in the early 1900s. However, Chevrolet did make an early V8 for cars in 1917, though it was short-lived. Ford was the first to mass-produce a V8 engine for the masses with their affordable Flathead V8 in 1932, which was a single-piece-cast design that made V8s practical for mainstream cars for the first time.
 
The V8 Engine’s Early History

• The First V8: Opens in new tabThe V8 engine was first developed by French inventor Léon Levavasseur in 1902 for use in boats and airplanes. 
• Early V8 Production: Opens in new tabCompanies like Antoinette, Renault, and Buchet started small-scale production of V8 engines for race cars around 1904. 
• Chevrolet’s 1917 V8: Opens in new tabChevrolet introduced a V8 engine for cars in 1917, the Series D, but it was expensive and short-lived, ending production in 1919. 

Ford’s V8 for the Masses

• The “Flathead”: Opens in new tabFord introduced the V8 in 1932 with their revolutionary and affordable Flathead V8 engine, which could be mass-produced because of its single-piece-cast block design. 
• Impact on the Market: Opens in new tabThis made the V8 engine accessible to the average consumer, and Ford is often credited with popularizing the V8 in America. 

What was the very first car engine?

The first Motorwagen used the Benz 954 cc (58.2 cu in) single-cylinder four-stroke engine with trembler coil ignition. This new engine produced 500 watts (2⁄3 hp) at 250 rpm in the Patent-Motorwagen, although later tests by the University of Mannheim showed it to be capable of 670 W (0.9 hp) at 400 rpm.