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Olds Automobile Factory Starts Production
Factory begins production in Detroit, MI. First year, they produced 425 cars. -
General Motors Forms
William Durant creates General Motors. Eventually it becomes the largest corporation in the world! -
Model T
Henry Ford starts making the Model T. In the first year of production, they made 10,660 cars. -
Electric Start
Charles Kettering introduces the electric start for the first time. Engines previously started by hand cranking. Starter was first in a Cadillac in 1912. -
Assembly Line
First moving assembly line is for automobiles is started in Ford Motor Company. They produced 300,000 cars in 1914. This made it possible to lower the cost of the Model T for the next fourteen years. Cars went from expensive luxuries to regular transportation. -
Power Steering
Francis Wright David introduces power steering for the first time. -
Great Depression
Once the great depression began after WWI, automobile advancement stalled. Less people could afford cars and cars were more expensive to produce. -
Turn Signals
A delaware company invented flashing turn signals for cars. -
WWII
When WWII started, commerical car production stopped and geared production towards war materials. Such as jeeps, airplanes, etc. -
Jeep
Jeep is designed during WWII by Karl Pabst. -
Federal Aid Highway Act
Dwight Eisenhower signed the act in 1956. This act was intended to make transcontinental travel safer and more efficient. -
Airbags
Invented in the 1970s, they became standard in most cars on the drivers side and then the passenger side as well. -
Fuel Prices
Fuel prices began to escalate and the desire for more fuel efficient cars escalated as well. -
Prius
The Toyota Prius was the first mass produced hybrid vehicle. Began a spark to create fuel efficent and electric cars.