Nikolaus Otto

Nikolaus August Otto (June 14, 1832 - January 28, 1891) was the German inventor of the

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internal-combustion engine.

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As a young man he began experimenting with gas engines and in 1864 joined with two friends to form his own company. The company was named N. A. Otto & Cie., which was the first company to manufacture internal-combustion engines. The company exists today as Deutz AG.

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His first atmospheric engine was completed in May 1867. Five years later he was joined by Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach and together they produced the idea of the four-stroke cycle or Otto cycle.

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First described in 1876, the stroke is an upward or downward movement of a piston in a cylinder. Otto's patent was invalidated in 1886 when it was discovered that another inventor, Alphonse Beau de Rochas, had already described the four-stroke cycle principle in a privately published pamphlet.

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According to recent historical studies, the italian inventors Eugenio Barsanti and Felice Matteucci patented a first working efficient version of an internal combustion engine in 1854 in London (pt. Num. 1072). The Otto engine is in many parts at least inspired from this precedent invention http://www.barsantiematteucci.it.

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June 14: June 14 is the 165th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (166th in leap years), with 200 days remaining....

1832: 1832 was a leap year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar)....

January 28: January 28 is the 28th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 337 days remaining (338 in leap years)....

Nikolaus Otto related Images and Photos (experimental)

Otto Takes Rome	Philipp Otto Runge	Otto Eduard Leopold Bismarck	Otto's Eleven - German Style
Chancellor Otto Von Bismarck (1815-98) 1849	Otto Von Bismarck 1886	Prince Otto Von Bismarck 1884	Adolf Otto Reinhold Windaus German Chemist
Otto Eduard Leopold Bismarck a Mild Caricature	Otto Von Bismarck as a Student 1833	Otto King of Bavaria from 1886-1913	Portrait of Johann Friedrich Nikolaus Oldach (1773-1849) 1824