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The First Long Distance Test Drive

Season 1 Episode 4 | 2m 48s

In 1886, German inventor and engineer, Karl Benz, has his patent accepted for what is regarded as the world’s first automobile, but it’s a failure. Benz doesn't sell a single one for two years. Facing financial ruin he plunges into depression. Thankfully for humanity one person sees great potential in his "motor wagon" - someone who also knows how to create a bit of publicity, his wife Bertha.

Extras
Dial in to the fascinating history of the smartphone.
Polybius invents a code so words can be exchanged between battalions freely.
Hedy Lamarr invents a way to control torpedoes remotely.
Jim Al-Khalili demonstrates why hydrogen is the ultimate rocket fuel.
Blast off into history to see how rockets originated not in the sky, but in a cave.
Franklin Chang-Diaz demonstrates the energy required to launch a rocket into space.
In 1909, the Model T’s first year of production, Henry Ford sells over 10,000 cars.
Go for a ride through the 9,000-year history of the ultimate freedom machine: the car.
How military robots let the charge towards autonomous machines.
A lab in Germany is developing a robot that could fill factories with mechanical workers.
Latest Episodes
Dial in to the fascinating history of the smartphone.
Blast off into history to see how rockets originated not in the sky, but in a cave.
Go for a ride through the 9,000-year history of the ultimate freedom machine: the car.
Check out the history of robots and learn how they are becoming a part of everyday life.
Take to the sky with the dreamers whose work gave humans the ability to fly.
Look back in time to see how humans invented the telescope.