Bertha Benz was losing patience with her husband Karl. He had built his first horseless carriage in December of 1885, but, although all their money was tied up in the car, Karl refused to offer it for sale. Instead, he tinkered with various components trying to improve his design. By August of 1888, Bertha decided that she had waited long enough. Without telling Karl, she and her two sons went out to the garage, started the car, and proceeded to drive it from their home in Mannheim, Germany to her parent’s house in Pforzheim, 106 kilometres away. This marked the first time that any car had gone more than a few miles from home and Bertha made sure that...