Random Fact – Automobile
The first U.S. patent for an automobile was issued on this date, in 1895, to George B. Selden. Selden had actually invented the automobile much earlier than his rival, Henry Ford. Selden held off filing his patent while he tried to find backers and had not gotten either the money or the patent when other people started building automobiles. His patent did garner funding from a few manufacturers, but Henry Ford refused to pay him, claiming that his Model T was not based on Selden’s design.