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134-632: Edward Butler (1862–1940) was an English inventor who produced an early three-wheeled petrol automobile called the Butler Petrol Cycle in 1888, which is accepted by many as the first British car. Butler first showed plans for a three-wheeled petrol vehicle at the Stanley Cycle Show in London in 1884, and again at the 1885 Inventions Exhibition, also in London. Butler built his first car in 1888. For comparison, Carl Benz , who

268-536: A Flemish member of a Jesuit mission in China around 1672. It was a 65-centimetre-long (26 in) scale-model toy for the Kangxi Emperor that was unable to carry a driver or a passenger. It is not known with certainty if Verbiest's model was successfully built or run. Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot is widely credited with building the first full-scale, self-propelled mechanical vehicle in about 1769; he created

402-578: A United States Army sergeant wrote, "Our own Army and the British Army along with ours have done their share of looting and raping ... This offensive attitude among our troops is not at all general, but the percentage is large enough to have given our Army a pretty black name, and we too are considered an army of rapists." Robert Lilly's analysis of military records led him to conclude about 14,000 rapes occurred in Britain, France, and Germany at

536-630: A general election . Following a landslide victory, Labour held more than 60% of the seats in the House of Commons and formed a new government on 26 July 1945 under Clement Attlee . Britain's war debt was described by some in the American administration as a "millstone round the neck of the British economy". Although there were suggestions for an international conference to tackle the issue, in August 1945

670-566: A third world war . The devastated great powers of Western Europe formed the European Coal and Steel Community , which later evolved into the European Economic Community and ultimately into the current European Union . This effort primarily began as an attempt to avoid another war between Germany and France by economic cooperation and integration, and a common market for important natural resources. The end of

804-407: A Fiat vehicle. Toyota , Nissan , Suzuki , Mazda , and Honda began as companies producing non-automotive products before the war, switching to car production during the 1950s. Kiichiro Toyoda's decision to take Toyoda Loom Works into automobile manufacturing would create what would eventually become Toyota Motor Corporation , the largest automobile manufacturer in the world. Subaru , meanwhile,

938-518: A United States analysis released years after the war, US casualties were 10,380 dead and 36,550 wounded; Japanese dead were 255,795. As a result of the new borders drawn by the victorious nations, large populations suddenly found themselves in hostile territory. The Soviet Union took over areas formerly controlled by Germany, Finland, Poland, and Japan. Poland lost the Kresy region (about half of its pre-War territory) and received most of Germany east of

1072-437: A combination of the use of feet and hands, and occasionally by voice on 21st-century cars. These controls include a steering wheel , pedals for operating the brakes and controlling the car's speed (and, in a manual transmission car, a clutch pedal), a shift lever or stick for changing gears, and a number of buttons and dials for turning on lights, ventilation, and other functions. Modern cars' controls are now standardised, such as

1206-416: A few men and boys. In Italy the victims of these acts were described as Marocchinate meaning literally "Moroccaned" (or people who have been subjected to acts committed by Moroccans). According to Italian victims associations, a total of more than 7,000 civilians, including children, were raped by Goumiers. In the first few weeks of the American military occupation of Japan, rape and other violent crime

1340-418: A float-fed carburettor (five years before Maybach ), and Ackermann steering , all of which were state of the art at the time. The engine was liquid-cooled, with a radiator over the rear driving wheel. Speed was controlled by means of a throttle valve lever. The driver was seated between the front wheels. The vehicle featured in an article in the 14 February 1891 issue of Scientific American , where it

1474-483: A long-established wagon and coach manufacturer, started to build cars in 1897 and commenced sales of electric vehicles in 1902 and petrol vehicles in 1904. In Britain, there had been several attempts to build steam cars with varying degrees of success, with Thomas Rickett even attempting a production run in 1860. Santler from Malvern is recognised by the Veteran Car Club of Great Britain as having made

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1608-670: A new model DMG car was produced and the model was named Mercedes after the Maybach engine, which generated 35 hp. Maybach quit DMG shortly thereafter and opened a business of his own. Rights to the Daimler brand name were sold to other manufacturers. In 1890, Émile Levassor and Armand Peugeot of France began producing vehicles with Daimler engines, and so laid the foundation of the automotive industry in France . In 1891, Auguste Doriot and his Peugeot colleague Louis Rigoulot completed

1742-734: A quarter of the Soviet Union's capital resources were destroyed, and industrial and agricultural output in 1945 fell far short of pre-war levels. To help rebuild the country, the Soviet government obtained limited credits from Britain and Sweden; it refused assistance offered by the United States under the Marshall Plan. Instead, the Soviet Union coerced Soviet-occupied Central and Eastern Europe to supply machinery and raw materials. Germany and former Nazi satellites made reparations to

1876-423: A quarter of world oil production as of 2019 . Both petrol and diesel cars pollute more than electric cars. Cars and vans caused 8% of direct carbon dioxide emissions in 2021. As of 2021 , due to greenhouse gases emitted during battery production, electric cars must be driven tens of thousands of kilometres before their lifecycle carbon emissions are less than fossil fuel cars; however this varies considerably and

2010-419: A result, Ford's cars came off the line in 15-minute intervals, much faster than previous methods, increasing productivity eightfold, while using less manpower (from 12.5 manhours to 1 hour 33 minutes). It was so successful, paint became a bottleneck. Only Japan black would dry fast enough, forcing the company to drop the variety of colours available before 1913, until fast-drying Duco lacquer

2144-628: A revival of the Italian republican movement. In the 1946 Italian constitutional referendum , held on 2 June, a day celebrated since as Festa della Repubblica , the Italian monarchy was abolished, having been associated with the deprivations of the war and the Fascist rule, especially in the North , and Italy became a republic. This was the first time that Italian women voted at the national level, and

2278-517: A sense of ethnic kinship or to the leadership of Marshal Fyodor Tolbukhin . The population of Germany was treated significantly worse. Rape and murder of German civilians was as bad as, and sometimes worse than, Nazi propaganda had anticipated. Political officers encouraged Soviet troops to seek revenge and terrorise the German population. On "the basis of Hochrechnungen (projections or estimations)", "1.9 million German women altogether were raped at

2412-467: A steam-powered road vehicle. It was unable to maintain sufficient steam pressure for long periods and was of little practical use. The development of external combustion (steam) engines is detailed as part of the history of the car but often treated separately from the development of true cars. A variety of steam-powered road vehicles were used during the first part of the 19th century, including steam cars , steam buses , phaetons , and steam rollers . In

2546-544: A steam-powered tricycle. He also constructed two steam tractors for the French Army, one of which is preserved in the French National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts . His inventions were limited by problems with water supply and maintaining steam pressure. In 1801, Richard Trevithick built and demonstrated his Puffing Devil road locomotive, believed by many to be the first demonstration of

2680-579: A three-wheeled car powered by electricity at the International Exposition of Electricity . Although several other German engineers (including Gottlieb Daimler , Wilhelm Maybach , and Siegfried Marcus ) were working on cars at about the same time, the year 1886 is regarded as the birth year of the modern car—a practical, marketable automobile for everyday use—when the German Carl Benz patented his Benz Patent-Motorwagen ; he

2814-429: A variety of lamps . Over the decades, additional features and controls have been added to vehicles, making them progressively more complex. These include rear-reversing cameras , air conditioning , navigation systems , and in-car entertainment . Most cars in use in the early 2020s are propelled by an internal combustion engine , fueled by the combustion of fossil fuels . Electric cars , which were invented early in

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2948-673: A way to head off on unchaperoned dates, plus they had a private space to snuggle up close at the end of the night." Similarly the costs to society of car use may include; maintaining roads , land use , air pollution , noise pollution , road congestion , public health , health care, and of disposing of the vehicle at the end of its life; and can be balanced against the value of the benefits to society that car use generates. Societal benefits may include: economy benefits, such as job and wealth creation, of car production and maintenance, transportation provision, society wellbeing derived from leisure and travel opportunities, and revenue generation from

3082-821: A weaker interpretation of the Charter to permit the Soviet Union to continue to control the Baltic states. In March 1944 the US accepted Churchill's view that the Atlantic Charter did not apply to the Baltic states. With the return of Soviet troops at the end of the war, the Forest Brothers mounted a guerrilla war . This continued until the mid-1950s. An estimated one million military and civilian Filipinos were killed from all causes; of these 131,028 were listed as killed in seventy-two war crime events. According to

3216-530: A whole, but its youth in particular, ended up being deeply scorched psychologically by the ordeal which they went through during the previous decade, from the time when the Nazis took power promising them a thousand years of world dominance, until their major cities were destroyed, turned to rubble by the Allied bombardments. The trauma caused to them was multifaceted as it permeated all levels of society, by means of

3350-416: A widespread famine, which was followed by the wave of denazification which swept throughout their humiliated country, ending with the pervasive shame of their parents who believed in the illusive promises of their defeated Führer . The Soviet Union , too, had been heavily affected. In response, in 1947, US Secretary of State George Marshall devised the "European Recovery Program", which became known as

3484-431: Is called " Fordism " and was copied by most major industries. The efficiency gains from the assembly line also coincided with the economic rise of the US. The assembly line forced workers to work at a certain pace with very repetitive motions which led to more output per worker while other countries were using less productive methods. In the automotive industry, its success was dominating, and quickly spread worldwide seeing

3618-448: Is expected to improve in future due to lower carbon electricity , and longer lasting batteries produced in larger factories. Many governments use fiscal policies, such as road tax , to discourage the purchase and use of more polluting cars; and many cities are doing the same with low-emission zones . Fuel taxes may act as an incentive for the production of more efficient, hence less polluting, car designs (e.g., hybrid vehicles ) and

3752-469: Is generally acknowledged as the inventor of the car. In 1879, Benz was granted a patent for his first engine, which had been designed in 1878. Many of his other inventions made the use of the internal combustion engine feasible for powering a vehicle. His first Motorwagen was built in 1885 in Mannheim , Germany. He was awarded the patent for its invention as of his application on 29 January 1886 (under

3886-661: Is generally recognised as the inventor of the modern automobile, built his first working motorcar in 1885, and unveiled it to the public in 1886. Built by the Merryweather Fire Engine company in Greenwich , in 1888, the Butler Petrol Cycle (first recorded use of the term) was a three-wheeled petrol vehicle. The rear wheel was directly driven by a / 8 hp (466W) 600 cc (40 in; 2¼×5-inch {57×127-mm}) flat twin four-stroke engine (with magneto ignition replaced by coil and battery), equipped with rotary valves and

4020-621: Is that cars can use lighter batteries. Most cars are designed to carry multiple occupants, often with four or five seats. Cars with five seats typically seat two passengers in the front and three in the rear. Full-size cars and large sport utility vehicles can often carry six, seven, or more occupants depending on the arrangement of the seats. On the other hand, sports cars are most often designed with only two seats. Utility vehicles like pickup trucks , combine seating with extra cargo or utility functionality. The differing needs for passenger capacity and their luggage or cargo space has resulted in

4154-826: Is the replacement of physical knobs and switches by secondary controls with touchscreen controls such as BMW 's iDrive and Ford 's MyFord Touch . Another change is that while early cars' pedals were physically linked to the brake mechanism and throttle, in the early 2020s, cars have increasingly replaced these physical linkages with electronic controls. Cars are typically equipped with interior lighting which can be toggled manually or be set to light up automatically with doors open, an entertainment system which originated from car radios , sideways windows which can be lowered or raised electrically (manually on earlier cars), and one or multiple auxiliary power outlets for supplying portable appliances such as mobile phones , portable fridges, power inverters , and electrical air pumps from

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4288-471: Is the usual formal term in British English . "Autocar", a variant likewise attested from 1895 and literally meaning " self-propelled car", is now considered archaic. " Horseless carriage " is attested from 1895. "Automobile", a classical compound derived from Ancient Greek autós ( αὐτός ) "self" and Latin mobilis "movable", entered English from French and was first adopted by

4422-527: Is uncertain as neither the Polish Communist government or the Soviet government kept track of the number of expelled people. The number of Polish citizens inhabiting Polish borderlands ( Kresy region) was about 13 million before World War II broke out according to official Polish statistics. Polish citizens killed in the war that originated from the Polish borderlands territory (killed by either

4556-538: The Automobile Club of Great Britain in 1897. It fell out of favour in Britain and is now used chiefly in North America , where the abbreviated form "auto" commonly appears as an adjective in compound formations like " auto industry " and " auto mechanic ". In 1649, Hans Hautsch of Nuremberg built a clockwork-driven carriage. The first steam-powered vehicle was designed by Ferdinand Verbiest ,

4690-547: The British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF) were also involved in rapes: A former prostitute recalled that as soon as Australian troops arrived in Kure in early 1946, they "dragged young women into their jeeps, took them to the mountain, and then raped them. I heard them screaming for help nearly every night". Such behavior was commonplace, but news of criminal activity by Occupation forces

4824-639: The Great Depression , by 1940, only 17 of those were left. In Europe, much the same would happen. Morris set up its production line at Cowley in 1924, and soon outsold Ford, while beginning in 1923 to follow Ford's practice of vertical integration , buying Hotchkiss' British subsidiary (engines), Wrigley (gearboxes), and Osberton (radiators), for instance, as well as competitors, such as Wolseley : in 1925, Morris had 41 per cent of total British car production. Most British small-car assemblers, from Abbey to Xtra , had gone under. Citroën did

4958-613: The Marshall Plan . Under the plan, during 1948–1952 the United States government allocated US$ 13 billion (US$ 177 billion in 2023 dollars) for the reconstruction of the affected countries of Western Europe . By the end of the war, the economy of the United Kingdom was one of severe privation. More than a quarter of its national wealth had been consumed. Until the introduction in 1941 of Lend-Lease aid from

5092-655: The Oder–Neisse line , including the industrial regions of Silesia . The German state of the Saar was temporarily a protectorate of France but later returned to German administration. As set forth at Potsdam, approximately 12 million people were expelled from Germany, including seven million from Germany proper, and three million from the Sudetenland . During the war, the United States government interned approximately 110,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese who lived along

5226-704: The Paris Peace Treaties, 1947 , reparations were also assessed from the countries of Italy , Romania , Hungary , Bulgaria , and Finland . US policy in post-war Germany from April 1945 until July 1947 had been that no help should be given to the Germans in rebuilding their nation, save for the minimum required to mitigate starvation. The Allies' immediate post-war "industrial disarmament" plan for Germany had been to destroy Germany's capability to wage war by complete or partial de-industrialization. The first industrial plan for Germany, signed in 1946, required

5360-679: The Portsmouth Block Mills , England, in 1802. The assembly line style of mass production and interchangeable parts had been pioneered in the US by Thomas Blanchard in 1821, at the Springfield Armory in Springfield, Massachusetts . This concept was greatly expanded by Henry Ford , beginning in 1913 with the world's first moving assembly line for cars at the Highland Park Ford Plant . As

5494-519: The Republic of Austria . Following the war, the Allies rescinded Japanese Empire pre-war annexations such as Manchuria , and Korea became militarily occupied by the United States in the south and by the Soviet Union in the north . The Philippines and Guam were returned to the United States. Burma, Malaya, and Singapore were returned to Britain and Indochina back to France. The Dutch East Indies

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5628-643: The Soviet Union , $ 25 million to Ethiopia and $ 5 million to Albania . In 1954 the Free Territory of Trieste , an independent territory between northern Italy and Yugoslavia under direct responsibility of the United Nations Security Council , was divided between the two states, Italy and Yugoslavia. The Italian border that applies today has existed since 1975, when Trieste was formally re-annexed to Italy after

5762-579: The Soviet sphere of influence and eventually behind an " Iron Curtain ". Europe was divided into a US-led Western Bloc and a USSR-led Eastern Bloc . Internationally, alliances with the two blocs gradually shifted, with some nations trying to stay out of the Cold War through the Non-Aligned Movement . The war also saw a nuclear arms race between the two superpowers; part of the reason that

5896-645: The Treaty of Osimo . In 1950, Italian Somaliland was made a United Nations Trust Territory under Italian administration until 1 July 1960. The Federal State of Austria had been annexed by Germany in 1938 ( Anschluss , this union was banned by the Treaty of Versailles ). Austria (called Ostmark by the Germans) was separated from Germany and divided into four zones of occupation. With the Austrian State Treaty , these zones reunited in 1955 to become

6030-575: The Truman administration accepted that economic recovery in Europe could not go forward without the reconstruction of the German industrial base on which it had previously been dependent. In July 1947, President Truman rescinded on "national security grounds" the directive that had ordered the US occupation forces to "take no steps looking toward the economic rehabilitation of Germany." A new directive recognised that "[a]n orderly, prosperous Europe requires

6164-627: The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic . Additionally, the Soviet Union transferred more than two million people within their own borders; these included Germans, Finns, Crimean Tatars , and Chechens . As Soviet troops marched across the Balkans, they committed rapes and robberies in Romania , Hungary , Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. The population of Bulgaria was largely spared of this treatment, possibly due to

6298-520: The Wankel engine has had more than very limited success. All in all, it is estimated that over 100,000 patents created the modern automobile and motorcycle. Large-scale, production-line manufacturing of affordable cars was started by Ransom Olds in 1901 at his Oldsmobile factory in Lansing, Michigan , and based upon stationary assembly line techniques pioneered by Marc Isambard Brunel at

6432-527: The Winter War of 1939–1940, the Soviet Union invaded neutral Finland and annexed some of its territory. From 1941 until 1944 , Finland aligned itself with Nazi Germany in a failed effort to regain lost territories from the Soviets. Finland retained its independence following the war but remained subject to Soviet-imposed constraints in its domestic affairs. In 1940 the Soviet Union invaded and annexed

6566-409: The history of the car , became commercially available in the 2000s and are predicted to cost less to buy than petrol-driven cars before 2025. The transition from fossil fuel-powered cars to electric cars features prominently in most climate change mitigation scenarios , such as Project Drawdown 's 100 actionable solutions for climate change. There are costs and benefits to car use . The costs to

6700-623: The liberation of Italy . Unlike in Germany and Japan, no war crimes tribunals were held against Italian military and political leaders, though the Italian resistance summarily executed some of them (such as Mussolini ) at the end of the war; the Togliatti amnesty , taking its name from the Communist Party secretary at the time, pardoned all wartime common and political crimes in 1946. The 1947, Treaty of Peace with Italy spelled

6834-440: The tax opportunities. The ability of humans to move flexibly from place to place has far-reaching implications for the nature of societies. Cars are a major cause of urban air pollution , with all types of cars producing dust from brakes, tyres, and road wear , although these may be limited by vehicle emission standards . While there are different ways to power cars, most rely on petrol or diesel , and they consume almost

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6968-682: The 1.8% annual average reduction between 2010 and 2015. Given slow progress to date, the IEA estimates fuel consumption will have to decrease by 4.3% per year on average from 2019 to 2030. The increase in sales of SUVs is bad for fuel economy. Many cities in Europe have banned older fossil fuel cars and all fossil fuel vehicles will be banned in Amsterdam from 2030. Many Chinese cities limit licensing of fossil fuel cars, and many countries plan to stop selling them between 2025 and 2050. Aftermath of World War II Once allies during World War II ,

7102-533: The 1908 Ford Model T , both American cars, are widely considered the first mass-produced and mass-affordable cars, respectively. Cars were rapidly adopted in the US, where they replaced horse-drawn carriages . In Europe and other parts of the world, demand for automobiles did not increase until after World War II . In the 21st century, car usage is still increasing rapidly, especially in China, India, and other newly industrialised countries . Cars have controls for driving , parking , passenger comfort, and

7236-487: The 1950s, Chevrolet shared bonnet, doors, roof, and windows with Pontiac ; by the 1990s, corporate powertrains and shared platforms (with interchangeable brakes , suspension, and other parts) were common. Even so, only major makers could afford high costs, and even companies with decades of production, such as Apperson , Cole , Dorris , Haynes , or Premier, could not manage: of some two hundred American car makers in existence in 1920, only 43 survived in 1930, and with

7370-738: The 1960s. The aftermath of World War II saw the rise of communist influence in East Asia, with the People's Republic of China , as the Chinese Communist Party emerged victorious from the Chinese Civil War in 1949. At the end of the war, millions of people were dead and millions more homeless, the European economies had collapsed, and much of Europe's industrial infrastructure had been destroyed. The German people as

7504-812: The 20th and 21st centuries because there are more cars; the 1980s oil glut even fuelled the sales of low-economy vehicles in OECD countries. The BRIC countries are adding to this consumption. As of 2023 few production cars use wheel hub motors . In almost all hybrid (even mild hybrid ) and pure electric cars regenerative braking recovers and returns to a battery some energy which would otherwise be wasted by friction brakes getting hot. Although all cars must have friction brakes (front disc brakes and either disc or drum rear brakes ) for emergency stops, regenerative braking improves efficiency, particularly in city driving. Cars are equipped with controls used for driving, passenger comfort, and safety, normally operated by

7638-506: The Benz car to his line of products. Because France was more open to the early cars, initially more were built and sold in France through Roger than Benz sold in Germany. In August 1888, Bertha Benz , the wife and business partner of Carl Benz, undertook the first road trip by car, to prove the road-worthiness of her husband's invention. In 1896, Benz designed and patented the first internal-combustion flat engine , called boxermotor . During

7772-621: The Cold War never became a "hot" war was that the Soviet Union and the United States had nuclear deterrents against each other, leading to a mutually assured destruction standoff. As a consequence of the war, the Allies created the United Nations , an organization for international cooperation and diplomacy, similar to the League of Nations . Members of the United Nations agreed to outlaw wars of aggression in an attempt to avoid

7906-700: The French Resistance (called the épuration sauvage , "wild purge"). French women who had had romantic liaisons with German soldiers were publicly humiliated and had their heads shaved. There were also a wave of summary executions estimated to have killed about 10,000 people. When the Provisional Government of the French Republic established control, the Épuration légale ("legal purge") began. There were no international war crimes trials for French collaborators, who were tried in

8040-536: The German Nazi regime or the Soviet regime, or expelled to distant parts of Siberia ) were accounted as Russian, Ukrainian or Belarusian casualties of war in official Soviet historiography. This fact imposes additional difficulties in making the correct estimation of the number of Polish citizens forcibly transferred after the war. The border change also reversed the results of the 1919–1920 Polish–Soviet War . Former Polish cities such as Lwów came under control of

8174-423: The German population in an attempt to stop rape and robbery by the troops. Not all Soviet soldiers participated in these activities. Foreign reports of Soviet brutality were denounced as false. Rape, robbery, and murder were blamed on German bandits impersonating Soviet soldiers. Some justified Soviet brutality towards German civilians based on previous brutality of German troops toward Russian civilians. Until

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8308-465: The Netherlands used JSP to support their military operations in the region after World War II. General Douglas MacArthur established the International Military Tribunal for the Far East . The Allies collected reparations from Japan. To further remove Japan as a potential future military threat, the Far Eastern Commission decided to de-industrialise Japan, with the goal of reducing Japanese standard of living to what prevailed between 1930 and 1934. In

8442-426: The Pacific coast of the United States in the wake of Imperial Japan 's attack on Pearl Harbor . Canada interned approximately 22,000 Japanese Canadians, 14,000 of whom were born in Canada. After the war, some internees chose to return to Japan, while most remained in North America. The Soviet Union expelled at least 2 million Poles from the east of the new border approximating the Curzon Line . This estimate

8576-437: The Red Cross was also permitted to visit and assist prisoners in the US occupation zone of Germany, although only with very small quantities of food. The Red Cross petitioned successfully for improvements to be made in the living conditions of German POWs. As France was liberated from German occupation, an épuration (purge) of real and suspected Nazi collaborators began. At first this was undertaken in an extralegal manner by

8710-501: The Soviet Union occupied and subsequently annexed the strategic island of Sakhalin . In the east, the Sudetenland reverted to Czechoslovakia following the European Advisory Commission 's decision to delimit German territory to be the territory it held on 31 December 1937. Close to one-quarter of pre-war (1937) Nazi Germany was de facto annexed by the Allies; roughly 10 million Germans were either expelled from this territory or not permitted to return to it if they had fled during

8844-417: The Soviet Union, owing to the independent nature of the military victory of the Partisans of Josip Broz Tito during World War II in Yugoslavia . The Allies established the Far Eastern Commission and Allied Council for Japan to administer their occupation of that country while the establishment Allied Control Council , administered occupied Germany. In accordance with the Potsdam Conference agreements,

8978-438: The Soviet Union. Soviet ex- POWs and civilians repatriated from abroad were suspected of having been Nazi collaborators, and 226,127 of them were sent to forced labour camps after scrutiny by Soviet intelligence, NKVD . Many ex-POWs and young civilians were also conscripted to serve in the Red Army. Others worked in labour battalions to rebuild infrastructure destroyed during the war. The economy had been devastated. Roughly

9112-424: The Soviet Union. The reconstruction programme emphasised heavy industry to the detriment of agriculture and consumer goods. By 1953, steel production was twice its 1940 level, but the production of many consumer goods and foodstuffs was lower than it had been in the late 1920s. The immediate post-war period in Europe was dominated by the Soviet Union annexing , or converting into Soviet Socialist Republics , all

9246-403: The US announced unexpectedly that the Lend-Lease programme was to end immediately. The abrupt withdrawal of American Lend-Lease support to Britain on 2 September 1945 dealt a severe blow to the plans of the new government. It was only with the completion of the Anglo-American loan by the United States to Great Britain on 15 July 1946 that some measure of economic stability was restored. However,

9380-431: The US's first pedestrian car casualties in 1899 in New York City. There are now standard tests for safety in new cars, such as the Euro and US NCAP tests, and insurance-industry-backed tests by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). However, not all such tests consider the safety of people outside the car, such as drivers of other cars, pedestrians and cyclists. The costs of car usage, which may include

9514-443: The US, the UK had been spending its assets to purchase American equipment including aircraft and ships—over £437 million (equal to some £28 billion in 2024) on aircraft alone. Lend-Lease came just before its reserves were exhausted. Britain had placed 55% of its total labour force into war production. In spring 1945, the Labour Party withdrew from the wartime coalition government, in an effort to oust Winston Churchill , forcing

9648-635: The United Kingdom, sentiment against them led to the Locomotive Acts of 1865. In 1807, Nicéphore Niépce and his brother Claude created what was probably the world's first internal combustion engine (which they called a Pyréolophore ), but installed it in a boat on the river Saone in France. Coincidentally, in 1807, the Swiss inventor François Isaac de Rivaz designed his own " de Rivaz internal combustion engine ", and used it to develop

9782-537: The United States and the Soviet Union became competitors on the world stage and engaged in the Cold War , so called because it never resulted in overt, declared total war between the two powers. It was instead characterized by espionage , political subversion and proxy wars . Western Europe and Asia were rebuilt through the American Marshall Plan , whereas Central and Eastern Europe fell under

9916-595: The United States. His patent was challenged by Henry Ford and others, and overturned in 1911. In 1893, the first running, petrol-driven American car was built and road-tested by the Duryea brothers of Springfield, Massachusetts . The first public run of the Duryea Motor Wagon took place on 21 September 1893, on Taylor Street in Metro Center Springfield. Studebaker , subsidiary of

10050-412: The auspices of his major company, Benz & Cie. , which was founded in 1883). Benz began promotion of the vehicle on 3 July 1886, and about 25 Benz vehicles were sold between 1888 and 1893, when his first four-wheeler was introduced along with a cheaper model. They also were powered with four-stroke engines of his own design. Emile Roger of France, already producing Benz engines under license, now added

10184-462: The availability of a large variety of body styles to meet individual consumer requirements that include, among others, the sedan/saloon , hatchback , station wagon/estate , coupe , and minivan . Traffic collisions are the largest cause of injury-related deaths worldwide. Mary Ward became one of the first documented car fatalities in 1869 in Parsonstown , Ireland, and Henry Bliss one of

10318-564: The brand name Daimler . It was a horse-drawn stagecoach built by another manufacturer, which they retrofitted with an engine of their design. By 1895, about 30 vehicles had been built by Daimler and Maybach, either at the Daimler works or in the Hotel Hermann, where they set up shop after disputes with their backers. Benz, Maybach, and the Daimler team seem to have been unaware of each other's early work. They never worked together; by

10452-455: The car visible to other users, so that the vehicle can be used at night; in some jurisdictions, daytime running lights ; red brake lights to indicate when the brakes are applied; amber turn signal lights to indicate the turn intentions of the driver; white-coloured reverse lights to illuminate the area behind the car (and indicate that the driver will be or is reversing); and on some vehicles, additional lights (e.g., side marker lights) to increase

10586-443: The cost of: acquiring the vehicle, repairs and auto maintenance , fuel, depreciation , driving time, parking fees , taxes, and insurance, are weighed against the cost of the alternatives, and the value of the benefits—perceived and real—of vehicle usage. The benefits may include on-demand transportation, mobility, independence, and convenience, and emergency power . During the 1920s, cars had another benefit: "[c]ouples finally had

10720-528: The countries invaded and annexed by the Red Army driving the Germans out of central and eastern Europe. New satellite states were set up by the Soviets in Poland , Bulgaria , Hungary , Czechoslovakia , Romania , Albania , and East Germany ; the last of these was created from the Soviet zone of occupation in Germany. Yugoslavia emerged as an independent Communist state allied but not aligned with

10854-470: The destruction of 1,500 manufacturing plants to lower German heavy industry output to roughly 50% of its 1938 level. Dismantling of West German industry ended in 1951. By 1950, equipment had been removed from 706 manufacturing plants , and steel production capacity had been reduced by 6.7 million tons. After lobbying by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Generals Lucius D. Clay and George Marshall ,

10988-588: The development of alternative fuels . High fuel taxes or cultural change may provide a strong incentive for consumers to purchase lighter, smaller, more fuel-efficient cars, or to not drive . The lifetime of a car built in the 2020s is expected to be about 16 years, or about 2 millionkm (1.2 millionmiles) if driven a lot. According to the International Energy Agency the average rated fuel consumption of new light-duty vehicles fell by only 0.9% between 2017 and 2019, far smaller than

11122-474: The domestic courts. Approximately 300,000 cases were investigated; 120,000 people were given various sentences including 6,763 death sentences (of which only 791 were carried out). Most convicts were given amnesty a few years later. The aftermath of World War II left Italy with an anger against the monarchy for its endorsement of the Fascist regime for the previous twenty years. These frustrations contributed to

11256-749: The driver from a crash perspective, but more dangerous for other vehicles and road users. The weight of a car influences fuel consumption and performance, with more weight resulting in increased fuel consumption and decreased performance. The Wuling Hongguang Mini EV , a typical city car , weighs about 700 kilograms (1,500 lb). Heavier cars include SUVs and extended-length SUVs like the Suburban . Cars have also become wider. Some places tax heavier cars more: as well as improving pedestrian safety this can encourage manufacturers to use materials such as recycled aluminium instead of steel. It has been suggested that one benefit of subsidising charging infrastructure

11390-580: The economic contributions of a stable and productive Germany." From mid-1946 onwards Germany received US government aid through the GARIOA programme. From 1948 onwards West Germany also became a minor beneficiary of the Marshall Plan. Volunteer organisations had initially been forbidden to send food, but in early 1946 the Council of Relief Agencies Licensed to Operate in Germany was founded. The prohibition against sending CARE Packages to individuals in Germany

11524-412: The end of that year there were more than 16 million electric cars on the world's roads. Despite rapid growth, less than two per cent of cars on the world's roads were fully electric and plug-in hybrid cars by the end of 2021. Cars for racing or speed records have sometimes employed jet or rocket engines, but these are impractical for common use. Oil consumption has increased rapidly in

11658-816: The end of the Italian colonial empire , along with other border revisions, like the transfer of the Italian Islands of the Aegean to the Kingdom of Greece and the transfer to France of Briga and Tenda , as well than to minor revisions of the Franco-Italian border. Moreover, under the Treaty of Peace with Italy, Istria , Kvarner , most of the Julian March as well as the Dalmatian city of Zara

11792-642: The end of the war by Red Army soldiers." About one-third of all German women in Berlin were raped by Soviet forces. A substantial minority were raped multiple times. In Berlin, contemporary hospital records indicate between 95,000 and 130,000 women were raped by Soviet troops. About 10,000 of these women died, mostly by suicide. Over 4.5 million Germans fled towards the West. The Soviets initially had no rules against their troops "fraternising" with German women, but by 1947 they started to isolate their troops from

11926-660: The end, the de-industrialisation programme in Japan was implemented to a lesser degree than the one in Germany. Japan received emergency aid from GARIOA , as did Germany. In early 1946, the Licensed Agencies for Relief in Asia were formed and permitted to supply Japanese with food and clothes. In April 1948 the Johnston Committee Report recommended that the economy of Japan should be reconstructed due to

12060-471: The first five years of the American occupation of Okinawa. However, he claims this is probably not the true figure, as most cases were unreported. During World War II the Japanese military established brothels filled with " comfort women ", a euphemism for the 200,000 girls and women who were forced into sexual slavery for Japanese soldiers. In Confucian nations like Korea and China, where premarital sex

12194-569: The first petrol-driven car in the country in 1894, followed by Frederick William Lanchester in 1895, but these were both one-offs. The first production vehicles in Great Britain came from the Daimler Company , a company founded by Harry J. Lawson in 1896, after purchasing the right to use the name of the engines. Lawson's company made its first car in 1897, and they bore the name Daimler. In 1892, German engineer Rudolf Diesel

12328-447: The first steam-powered road vehicle in 1769, while the Swiss inventor François Isaac de Rivaz designed and constructed the first internal combustion-powered automobile in 1808. The modern car—a practical, marketable automobile for everyday use—was invented in 1886, when the German inventor Carl Benz patented his Benz Patent-Motorwagen . Commercial cars became widely available during the 20th century. The 1901 Oldsmobile Curved Dash and

12462-486: The form of dismantled factories , forced labour , and coal. The German standard of living was to be reduced to its 1932 level. Beginning immediately after the German surrender and continuing for the next two years, the US and Britain pursued an "intellectual reparations" programme to harvest all technological and scientific know-how as well as all patents in Germany. The value of these amounted to around US$ 10 billion (US$ 156 billion in 2023 dollars). In accordance with

12596-425: The founding of Ford France and Ford Britain in 1911, Ford Denmark 1923, Ford Germany 1925; in 1921, Citroën was the first native European manufacturer to adopt the production method. Soon, companies had to have assembly lines, or risk going broke; by 1930, 250 companies which did not, had disappeared. Development of automotive technology was rapid, due in part to the hundreds of small manufacturers competing to gain

12730-656: The hands of US soldiers between 1942 and 1945. Lilly assumed that only 5% of rapes by American soldiers were reported, making 17,000 GI rapes a possibility, while analysts estimate that 50% of (ordinary peacetime) rapes are reported. Supporting Lilly's lower figure is the "crucial difference" that for World War II military rapes "it was the commanding officer, not the victim, who brought charges". According to German historian Miriam Gebhardt , as many as 190,000 women were raped by US soldiers in Germany. German soldiers left many war children behind in nations such as France and Denmark, which were occupied for an extended period. After

12864-666: The high cost to US taxpayers of continuous emergency aid. Survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki , known as hibakusha (被爆者), were ostracized by Japanese society. Japan provided no special assistance to these people until 1952. By the 65th anniversary of the bombings, total casualties from the initial attack and later deaths reached about 270,000 in Hiroshima and 150,000 in Nagasaki. About 230,000 hibakusha were still alive as of 2010 , and about 2,200 were suffering from radiation-caused illnesses as of 2007 . In

12998-528: The idea of different makes of cars produced by one company, called the General Motors Companion Make Program , so that buyers could "move up" as their fortunes improved. Reflecting the rapid pace of change, makes shared parts with one another so larger production volume resulted in lower costs for each price range. For example, in the 1930s, LaSalles , sold by Cadillac , used cheaper mechanical parts made by Oldsmobile ; in

13132-403: The individual include acquiring the vehicle, interest payments (if the car is financed), repairs and maintenance , fuel, depreciation , driving time, parking fees, taxes, and insurance . The costs to society include maintaining roads, land-use , road congestion , air pollution , noise pollution , public health , and disposing of the vehicle at the end of its life . Traffic collisions are

13266-584: The islands. Hundreds of thousands of Japanese were forced to relocate to the Japanese main islands. Okinawa became a main US staging point. The US covered large areas of it with military bases and continued to occupy it until 1972, years after the end of the occupation of the main islands. The bases still remain. To skirt the Geneva Convention , the Allies classified many Japanese soldiers as Japanese Surrendered Personnel (JSP) instead of POWs and used them as forced labour until 1947. The UK, France, and

13400-476: The largest cause of injury-related deaths worldwide. Personal benefits include on-demand transportation, mobility, independence, and convenience. Societal benefits include economic benefits, such as job and wealth creation from the automotive industry , transportation provision, societal well-being from leisure and travel opportunities, and the generation of revenue from taxation. People's ability to move flexibly from place to place has far-reaching implications for

13534-637: The last years of the 19th century, Benz was the largest car company in the world with 572 units produced in 1899 and, because of its size, Benz & Cie., became a joint-stock company . The first motor car in central Europe and one of the first factory-made cars in the world, was produced by Czech company Nesselsdorfer Wagenbau (later renamed to Tatra ) in 1897, the Präsident automobil. Daimler and Maybach founded Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (DMG) in Cannstatt in 1890, and sold their first car in 1892 under

13668-548: The loan was made primarily to support British overseas expenditure in the immediate post-war years and not to implement the Labour government's policies for domestic welfare reforms and the nationalisation of key industries. Although the loan was agreed on reasonable terms, its conditions included what proved to be damaging fiscal conditions for sterling . From 1946 to 1948, the UK introduced bread rationing, which it had never done during

13802-580: The location for the accelerator and brake, but this was not always the case. Controls are evolving in response to new technologies, for example, the electric car and the integration of mobile communications. Some of the original controls are no longer required. For example, all cars once had controls for the choke valve, clutch, ignition timing , and a crank instead of an electric starter . However, new controls have also been added to vehicles, making them more complex. These include air conditioning , navigation systems , and in-car entertainment . Another trend

13936-422: The longest trip by a petrol-driven vehicle when their self-designed and built Daimler powered Peugeot Type 3 completed 2,100 kilometres (1,300 mi) from Valentigney to Paris and Brest and back again. They were attached to the first Paris–Brest–Paris bicycle race, but finished six days after the winning cyclist, Charles Terront . The first design for an American car with a petrol internal combustion engine

14070-545: The market. In Japan, car production was very limited before World War II. Only a handful of companies were producing vehicles in limited numbers, and these were small, three-wheeled for commercial uses, like Daihatsu , or were the result of partnering with European companies, like Isuzu building the Wolseley A-9 in 1922. Mitsubishi was also partnered with Fiat and built the Mitsubishi Model A based on

14204-426: The nature of societies . The English word car is believed to originate from Latin carrus / carrum "wheeled vehicle" or (via Old North French ) Middle English carre "two-wheeled cart", both of which in turn derive from Gaulish karros " chariot ". It originally referred to any wheeled horse-drawn vehicle , such as a cart , carriage , or wagon . "Motor car", attested from 1895,

14338-434: The neutral Baltic states , Estonia , Latvia , and Lithuania . In June 1941, the Soviet governments of the Baltic states carried out mass deportations of "enemies of the people"; as a result, many treated the invading Nazis as liberators when they invaded only a week later. The Atlantic Charter promised self-determination to people deprived of it during the war. The British Prime Minister , Winston Churchill , argued for

14472-404: The on-board electrical system. More costly upper-class and luxury cars are equipped with features earlier such as massage seats and collision avoidance systems . Dedicated automotive fuses and circuit breakers prevent damage from electrical overload . Cars are typically fitted with multiple types of lights. These include headlights , which are used to illuminate the way ahead and make

14606-608: The patent rights to Harry J. Lawson who continued manufacture of the engine for use in motorboats. Instead, Butler turned to making stationary and marine engines. His motor tricycle was in advance of its better-known contemporaries on several points. Automobile A car , or an automobile , is a motor vehicle with wheels . Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads , seat one to eight people, have four wheels , and mainly transport people over cargo . There are around one billion cars in use worldwide. The French inventor Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot built

14740-551: The rape victims committed suicide. General Robert L. Eichelberger , the commander of the US Eighth Army, recorded that in the one instance when the Japanese formed a self-help vigilante guard to protect women from off-duty GIs, the Eighth Army ordered armoured vehicles in battle array into the streets and arrested the leaders, and the leaders received long prison terms. According to Takemae and Ricketts, members of

14874-502: The reunification of Germany, East German histories virtually ignored the actions of Soviet troops, and Russian histories still tend to do so. Reports of mass rapes by Soviet troops were often dismissed as anti-Communist propaganda or the normal byproduct of war. Rapes also occurred under other Allied forces in Europe, though the majority were committed by Soviet troops. In a letter to the editor of Time published in September 1945,

15008-472: The same in France, coming to cars in 1919; between them and other cheap cars in reply such as Renault 's 10CV and Peugeot 's 5CV , they produced 550,000 cars in 1925, and Mors , Hurtu , and others could not compete. Germany's first mass-manufactured car, the Opel 4PS Laubfrosch (Tree Frog), came off the line at Rüsselsheim in 1924, soon making Opel the top car builder in Germany, with 37.5 per cent of

15142-442: The second time overall considering the local elections that were held a few months earlier in some cities. King Victor Emmanuel III 's son, King Umberto II , was forced to abdicate and exiled. The Republican Constitution was approved on 1 January 1948, resulting from the work of a Constituent Assembly formed by the representatives of all the anti-fascist forces that contributed to the defeat of Nazi and Fascist forces during

15276-699: The systematic Nazification of the country with the strategic creation of the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda which took over the media and all institutions, and put in place the systematic indoctrination of the very young via the creation of the Hitler Youth , the Deutsches Jungvolk , the League of German Girls and the Jungmädelbund . Then by the end of the war, once their major cities were devastated, ensued

15410-405: The time of the merger of the two companies, Daimler and Maybach were no longer part of DMG. Daimler died in 1900 and later that year, Maybach designed an engine named Daimler-Mercedes that was placed in a specially ordered model built to specifications set by Emil Jellinek . This was a production of a small number of vehicles for Jellinek to race and market in his country. Two years later, in 1902,

15544-399: The vehicle had to be attended by three people, one of whom had to proceed in front of the vehicle waving a red flag. Butler wrote in the magazine The English Mechanic in 1890, "The authorities do not countenance its use on the roads, and I have abandoned in consequence any further development of it." Due to general lack of interest, Butler broke up his machine for scrap in 1896, and sold

15678-445: The village, as all the young men had been mobilized for the war. Soon after landing, the marines "mopped up" the entire village, but found no signs of Japanese forces. Taking advantage of the situation, they started "hunting for women" in broad daylight and those who were hiding in the village or nearby air raid shelters were dragged out one after another. According to Toshiyuki Tanaka, 76 cases of rape or rape-murder were reported during

15812-530: The visibility of the car. Interior lights on the ceiling of the car are usually fitted for the driver and passengers. Some vehicles also have a boot light and, more rarely, an engine compartment light. During the late 20th and early 21st century, cars increased in weight due to batteries, modern steel safety cages, anti-lock brakes, airbags, and "more-powerful—if more efficient—engines" and, as of 2019 , typically weigh between 1 and 3 tonnes (1.1 and 3.3 short tons; 0.98 and 2.95 long tons). Heavier cars are safer for

15946-645: The war opened the way for decolonization from the great powers. Independence was granted to India and Pakistan (from the United Kingdom), Indonesia (from the Netherlands ), the Philippines (from the US), as well as Israel and a number of Arab nations from specific Mandates which had been granted to great powers by the League of Nations . Independence for the nations of Sub-Saharan Africa came in

16080-536: The war, the children and their mothers often suffered recriminations. In Norway, the "Tyskerunger" (German-kids) suffered greatly. During the Italian campaign, the Goumiers , French Moroccan colonial troops attached to the French Expeditionary Forces, have been accused of committing rape and murder against the Italian peasant communities, mostly targeting civilian women and girls, as well as

16214-540: The war. The Soviet Union suffered enormous losses in the war against Germany. The Soviet population decreased by about 27 million during the war; of these, 8.7 million were combat deaths. The 19 million non-combat deaths had a variety of causes: starvation in the siege of Leningrad ; conditions in German prisons and concentration camps; mass shootings of civilians; harsh labour in German industry; famine and disease; conditions in Soviet camps; and service in German or German-controlled military units fighting

16348-700: The war. The remainder of Germany was partitioned into four zones of occupation, coordinated by the Allied Control Council . The Saar was detached and put in economic union with France in 1947. In 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany was created out of the Western zones. The Soviet zone became the German Democratic Republic . Germany paid reparations to the United Kingdom, France, and the Soviet Union, mainly in

16482-482: The world's attention. Key developments included electric ignition and the electric self-starter (both by Charles Kettering , for the Cadillac Motor Company in 1910–1911), independent suspension , and four-wheel brakes. Since the 1920s, nearly all cars have been mass-produced to meet market needs, so marketing plans often have heavily influenced car design. It was Alfred P. Sloan who established

16616-645: The world's first vehicle to be powered by such an engine. The Niépces' Pyréolophore was fuelled by a mixture of Lycopodium powder (dried spores of the Lycopodium plant), finely crushed coal dust and resin that were mixed with oil, whereas de Rivaz used a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen . Neither design was successful, as was the case with others, such as Samuel Brown , Samuel Morey , and Etienne Lenoir , who each built vehicles (usually adapted carriages or carts) powered by internal combustion engines. In November 1881, French inventor Gustave Trouvé demonstrated

16750-741: Was annexed by Yugoslavia causing the Istrian–Dalmatian exodus , which led to the emigration of between 230,000 and 350,000 of local ethnic Italians ( Istrian Italians and Dalmatian Italians ), the others being ethnic Slovenians, ethnic Croatians, and ethnic Istro-Romanians , choosing to maintain Italian citizenship, towards Italy, and in smaller numbers, towards the Americas , Australia and South Africa . The 1947 Treaty of Peace compelled Italy to pay $ 360 million (US dollars at 1938 prices) in war reparations : $ 125 million to Yugoslavia, $ 105 million to Greece , $ 100 million to

16884-407: Was developed in 1926. This is the source of Ford's apocryphal remark, "any color as long as it's black". In 1914, an assembly line worker could buy a Model T with four months' pay. Ford's complex safety procedures—especially assigning each worker to a specific location instead of allowing them to roam about—dramatically reduced the rate of injury. The combination of high wages and high efficiency

17018-1429: Was formed from a conglomerate of six companies who banded together as Fuji Heavy Industries , as a result of having been broken up under keiretsu legislation. The transport sector is a major contributor to air pollution , noise pollution and climate change . Most cars in use in the early 2020s run on petrol burnt in an internal combustion engine (ICE). The International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers says that, in countries that mandate low sulphur motor spirit, petrol-fuelled cars built to late 2010s standards (such as Euro-6) emit very little local air pollution. Some cities ban older petrol-driven cars and some countries plan to ban sales in future. However, some environmental groups say this phase-out of fossil fuel vehicles must be brought forwards to limit climate change. Production of petrol-fuelled cars peaked in 2017. Other hydrocarbon fossil fuels also burnt by deflagration (rather than detonation ) in ICE cars include diesel , autogas , and CNG . Removal of fossil fuel subsidies , concerns about oil dependence , tightening environmental laws and restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions are propelling work on alternative power systems for cars. This includes hybrid vehicles , plug-in electric vehicles and hydrogen vehicles . Out of all cars sold in 2021, nine per cent were electric, and by

17152-414: Was granted a patent for a "New Rational Combustion Engine". In 1897, he built the first diesel engine . Steam-, electric-, and petrol-driven vehicles competed for a few decades, with petrol internal combustion engines achieving dominance in the 1910s. Although various pistonless rotary engine designs have attempted to compete with the conventional piston and crankshaft design, only Mazda 's version of

17286-427: Was made in 1877 by George Selden of Rochester, New York . Selden applied for a patent for a car in 1879, but the patent application expired because the vehicle was never built. After a delay of 16 years and a series of attachments to his application, on 5 November 1895, Selden was granted a US patent ( U.S. patent 549,160 ) for a two-stroke car engine, which hindered, more than encouraged , development of cars in

17420-501: Was quickly suppressed. Rape committed by US soldiers occupying Okinawa was also a notable phenomenon. Okinawan historian Oshiro Masayasu (former director of the Okinawa Prefectural Historical Archives) writes: Soon after the U.S. marines landed, all the women of a village on Motobu Peninsula fell into the hands of American soldiers. At the time, there were only women, children and old people in

17554-503: Was rescinded on 5 June 1946. Following the German surrender, the International Red Cross was prohibited from providing aid such as food or visiting POW camps for Germans inside Germany. However, after making approaches to the Allies in the autumn of 1945 it was allowed to investigate the camps in the UK and French occupation zones of Germany, as well as to provide relief to the prisoners held there. On 4 February 1946,

17688-651: Was stated that one gallon of fuel in the form of petroleum or benzolene could propel the vehicle for forty miles (5.9 L/100 km) at a speed of 3–10 mph (4.8–16.1 km/h). Butler improved the specifications of his vehicle over the years, but was prevented from adequately testing it due to the Locomotives Act 1865 (the Red Flag Act ), which legislated a maximum speed for self-propelled road vehicles of 2 mph (3.2 km/h) in built up areas and 4 mph (6.4 km/h) in rural areas. Additionally,

17822-732: Was to be handed back to the Dutch but was resisted leading to the Indonesian war for independence. At the Yalta Conference , US President Franklin D. Roosevelt had secretly traded the Japanese Kurils and south Sakhalin to the Soviet Union in return for Soviet entry in the war with Japan. The Soviet Union annexed the Kuril Islands , provoking the Kuril Islands dispute , which is ongoing, as Russia continues to occupy

17956-664: Was widespread in naval ports like Yokohama and Yokosuka but declined shortly afterward. There were 1,336 reported rapes during the first 10 days of the occupation of Kanagawa prefecture. Historian Toshiyuki Tanaka relates that in Yokohama, the capital of the prefecture, there were 119 known rapes in September 1945. Historians Eiji Takemae and Robert Ricketts state that "When US paratroopers landed in Sapporo, an orgy of looting, sexual violence, and drunken brawling ensued. Gang rapes and other sex atrocities were not infrequent" and some of

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