A speedometer is a gauge that measures and displays the instantaneous speed of a vehicle, and it is now fitted as standard equipment on motor vehicles worldwide. The Croatian electrical engineer Josip Belušić invented the electric speedometer, patenting it in 1888 and presenting it at the 1889 Exposition Universelle in Paris; his design used a pointer driven by a magnet to indicate speed. Speedometers became standard equipment on automobiles around 1910, and the German inventor Otto Schultze later patented an eddy-current version in 1902 that further advanced the technology.
Facts
Patent or First-Use DateSource gives only the year 1888 for Belusic's original patent; no month or day is recorded. SignificanceThe speedometer moved from an optional accessory to standard equipment on motor vehicles by around 1910, and it is now fitted worldwide as a universal safety and legal requirement. 1 FAQs
How does a traditional speedometer work?
A rotating magnet drags a spring-restrained metal cup that carries the pointer; the faster it spins, the farther the pointer moves.
Britannica describes a circular permanent magnet that rotates 1,000 revolutions per mile of vehicle travel, driven by a flexible shaft and gears at the rear of the transmission. The magnet turns within a movable metal cup made of a light nonmagnetic metal that is attached to the shaft carrying the pointer. The magnet exerts a magnetic drag on the cup that tends to turn it against a spiral spring, so the faster the magnet rotates, the greater the pull on the cup and the pointer.
Was Josip Belušić the first person to invent a speedometer?
Charles Babbage made an early locomotive speedometer; Belušić is credited with the electric one in 1888.
Not exactly. Britannica says the British inventor Charles Babbage invented an early type of speedometer made for locomotives, while the Croatian inventor Josip Belušić is credited with inventing the electric speedometer in 1888.
Connections
In Field
Source Speedometer (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors
Invented By
Source Speedometer (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors
Sources
1. Speedometer (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia FoundationHistory section
The speedometer was originally patented by Josip Belušić (Giuseppe Bellussich) in 1888.
Lead section
Now universally fitted to motor vehicles, they started to be available as options in the early 20th century, and as standard equipment from about 1910 onwards.
Infobox: invented
1888
Invented By: Josip Belušić, Introduction
The electric speedometer was invented by the Croat Josip Belušić in 1888 and was originally called a velocimeter.
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