The Engine: Using Bang Power
1823 AD
1823 1823
00.00W51.25N
SCI

LONDON, ENGLAND
	Once people learned about gunpowder, it was easy to make a bang, but it was difficult to turn those bangs into a reliable power source.
	The first person to suggest an engine that ran on explosions was Christiaan Huygens, who had the idea in 1680 of using gunpowder as the fuel.  It didn't work.
	Englishman Samuel Brown developed the first commercially available internal combustion engine in 1823, and progress was rapid after that.
	Engines work by sending a fuel-air mixture into a cylinder, then igniting the mixture, which explodes, pressing down a piston which turns a crankshaft.  Several pistons working in sequence provide a smooth source of power.
	Internal combustion engines are now used for a wide variety of applications, particularly in automobiles and other vehicles.