Buick towing automobile equipped with self-starter.

The automobile was first invented and perfected in Germany and France in the late 1890s. Americans quickly came to dominate the automotive industry after WWI. Throughout this initial era, the development of automotive technology was rapid. Hundreds of small manufacturers competing to gain the world's attention. Key developments included the electric ignition system, independent suspension, and four-wheel brakes. Transmissions and throttle controls were widely adopted and safety glass also made its debut. Henry Ford perfected mass-production techniques, and Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler emerged as the “Big Three” auto companies by the 1920s. Car manufacturers received enormous orders from the military during World War II, and afterward automobile production in the United States, Europe, and Japan soared.

Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman who is best known for his work in the field of electricity. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and the long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. Dubbed "The Wizard of Menlo Park", he was one of the first inventors to apply the principles of mass production and large-scale teamwork to the process of invention, and because of that, he is often credited with the creation of the first industrial research laboratory. He is credited with the development of many important devices and technologies, including the light bulb, the phonograph, and the motion picture camera. Edison was a highly successful and influential inventor, with more than 1,000 patents to his name. He was also a pioneering entrepreneur, founding companies such as General Electric and the Edison Electric Light Company. "Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."