born March 17, 1834, Schorndorf, Württemberg
died March 6, 1900, Cannstatt
German automotive inventor.
Trained as an engineer, he cofounded an engine-building company in 1882. He patented one of the first successful internal-combustion engine s in 1885 and was the first to use a gasoline engine to power a bicycle (see motorcycle ). Further innovations culminated in 1889 in a commercially feasible four-wheeled automobile. In 1890 the Daimler company was founded at Cannstadt, and in 1899 it produced the first Mercedes car. In 1926 it merged with the company founded by Karl Benz . See also Daimler-Chrysler AG .