This Day in History November 24th: John Froelich, inventor of the gas-powered tractor, is born
John Froelich, the inventor of the first internal-combustion traction motor, or tractor, is born on this day in Girard, Iowa.
John Froelich (August 9, 1849–May 23, 1933) was an American inventor who lived in Clayton County, Iowa, and invented the first gasoline/petrol-powered tractor in 1892.
John Froelich attended school at the College of Iowa. There he learned a lot about machinery. After college, he decided he would build the very first gasoline powered tractor to go both forward and reverse.
Designed by Mann and himself, Froelich was able to build a 16 horsepower (12 kW) tractor that could go both forward and backward by the year 1892. After completing the tractor Froelich and Mann brought it to Langford, South Dakota, where they would connect it to a J.I. Case threshing machine, and thresh 72,000 bushels in 52 days.
Purchased by Deere & Company in 1918, and became the John Deere Tractor Company. Froelich, who received little money or recognition for his invention, died from a heart attack in 1933, in St. Paul, Minnesota. He was inducted to the Iowa Inventors Hall of Fame in 1991.
John Froelich attended school at the College of Iowa. There he learned a lot about machinery. After college, he decided he would build the very first gasoline powered tractor to go both forward and reverse.
Designed by Mann and himself, Froelich was able to build a 16 horsepower (12 kW) tractor that could go both forward and backward by the year 1892. After completing the tractor Froelich and Mann brought it to Langford, South Dakota, where they would connect it to a J.I. Case threshing machine, and thresh 72,000 bushels in 52 days.
Purchased by Deere & Company in 1918, and became the John Deere Tractor Company. Froelich, who received little money or recognition for his invention, died from a heart attack in 1933, in St. Paul, Minnesota. He was inducted to the Iowa Inventors Hall of Fame in 1991.
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