It was 134 years ago this May 8 that George B. Selden filed the first patent for a gasoline-powered automobile.
Selden, a finely clever fellow of Rochester, New York, accomplished something that many automobile pioneers failed to do, make some cash through his efforts. In fact, the Association of Licensed Automobile Manufacturers paid royalties to Selden for years although the inventor never actually constructed the vehicle he designed and patented.
Despite filing the first patent for a gas-driven car, Selden failed to receive the first patent due to the slowness with which his patent was processed. By the time the patent was finally granted, Karl Benz had already received his German patent.
