In Paris, Etienne Renoir demonstrates his internal combustion powered "horseless carriage"

Belgian-borne Etienne Lenoir had developed a two-stroke internal combustion engine powered with uncompressed illuminating gas and had already used it to power a boat on the Seine in Paris.  He then installed a version in a three-wheel carriage and, around this date, took it on a six mile round trip from his factory in Paris to Joinville on the edge of the French capital, the first road vehicle not powered by steam.  The journey, however, took three hours and a massive use of gas. Practical development of the automobile had to await other advances.  (By John Osborne)