Cugnot is credited with developing the world's first self-propelled vehicle. Powered by a steam engine refined by Cugnot, his three-wheeled vehicle could carry four passengers and moved at a walking pace. Built in 1769 and first used the following year, Cugnot's vehicle was originally designed to haul heavy artillery pieces and should more properly be called a tractor and not a carriage.

Cugnot was born at Void, in the Meuse province of France. As a young man, he joined the French army and while in the service in Germany and Belgium, he invented a new kind of rifle for use by French troops. He was also encouraged to work on a steam-powered gun-carriage. Cugnot was aware of the improvements in steam power developed by Thomas Savery, an English inventor, and Denis Papin, a French physicist.

Cugnot added further improvements, which employed steam power to move pistons without condensation, greatly...