Timeline of motor and engine technology

• 1698 - Thomas Savery builds a steam-powered water pump for pumping water out of mines
• 1712 - Thomas Newcomen builds a piston-and-cylinder steam-powered water pump for pumping water out of mines
• 1769 - James Watt patents his first improved steam engine
• 1816 - Robert Stirling invented his hot air Stirling engine
• 1821 - Michael Faraday builds an electricity-powered motor
• 1837 - First American patent for an electric motor ()
• 1877 - Nikolaus Otto patents a four-stroke internal combustion engine ()
• 1888 - Nikola Tesla patents the induction motor ()
• 1892 - Rudolf Diesel patents the Diesel engine ()
• 1929 - Felix Wankel patents the Wankel rotary engine ()
• 1937 - Hans von Ohain builds a gas turbine
• 1960s - alternators replace generators on automobile engines
• 1970s - electronically controlled ignition appears in automobile engines
• 1980s - electronically controlled ignition improved to reduce pollution
• 1980s - electronic fuel injection appears on gasoline automobile engines
• 1990s - Hybrid vehicles that run on an internal combustion engine and an electric motor charged by the previous engine to retain pick power usage.