The World's First Car Credit for the invention of the first modern automobile goes to Karl Benz,

who founded Benz & Company in Germany in the late 1800's. Benz's car is considered to be the world's first practical, drivable car, and it was patented in 1886. The first car had only three wheels, but Benz developed a four wheel car five years later in 1891. Karl Benz was born in Germany in 1844, the son of a train engineer. Karl started an industrial supply company in the 1870's and began work on a gas-fueled engine. By 1885, he had a running car that was driven for the first time in Mannheim. The patent was granted the next year, and by 1900 Benz and Company was the largest car manufacturer in the world. This invention ranks Benz as one of the greatest of all European inventors. Germ Theory One of the most often-mentioned European inventors is Louis Pasteur. Born in France in 1822, Pasteur introduced the world to "germ theory," the idea that bacteria and viruses are responsible for illness. He founded the Pasteur Institute, which promoted research and implementation of vaccines to prevent the spread of disease. Pasteur lost three of his children to typhoid fever, so he had both personal and professional reasons for being so passionate about his work. Pasteur was instrumental in convincing doctors and hospitals to implement better hygiene practices, and he also found cures for rabies and anthrax. Add It Up A French inventor, Blaise Pascal, is credited with inventing the world's first digital calculator. Born in 1623 in Clermont, Pascal was home-schooled, and was fascinated by geometry. His father was a tax collector, and Pascal invented an arithmetic machine that would help in the calculations. The machine had 8 dials, and would automatically move one notch on a count of ten. This machine is called the Pascaline and is considered to be the precursor to the modern digital calculator. Among European inventors, Pascal was prolific. He also invented the roulette wheel, the wrist watch, and the Pascal (Pa) -- a unit of atmospheric measurement. The Fist Telescope Galileo Galilei, or just Galileo, was a 16th Century astronomer who developed the first telescope. Galileo was born in Pisa, Italy in 1564. His father wanted him to become a doctor, but Galileo was fascinated by anything to do with physics. Among the greatest of European inventors, Galileo has countless inventions to his name, but will be best remembered for the telescope. In 1609, Galileo heard that an eyeglass manufacturer had invented a high-powered lens. Not having seen this himself, Galileo invented his own high-powered lens, and used it in his telescope. Countless celestial discoveries followed. Galileo demonstrated that the moon had a rocky surface, full of crevasses and rough terrain. He also discovered the three moons near Jupiter. The reason that Galileo is perhaps the greatest of all European inventors, though, is his theory that the Earth revolves around the Sun as part of a solar system. Though the theory was extremely controversial at the time, Galileo's findings were difficult to dispute. Threatened with heresy charges, Galileo was forbidden to teach his theory, yet he still did a great deal of research privately, even after going blind.