ABSTRACT
Early internal combustion engine technology was a result of efforts by many individuals from around the world as well as a variety of important historical factors. Several names are frequently associated with the development of the spark-ignition IC engine, including Lenoir, who patented the first commercially successful internal combustion engine in 1860. Nicolaus Otto has been credited with producing the four-stroke, spark-ignition gas engine in 1876; however, his contribution was based on a cycle proposed 14 years earlier by Beau de Rochas.
