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Is the electric automobile an idea of the last twenty years or so?

Electric cars work like gasoline-powered cars except they run on electricity, rather than gasoline. The power that drives the electric current is stored in batteries. Instead of refilling the gas tank when the power runs low, an electric car's batteries must be recharged. Also, rather than starting the car by turning an ignition key, which triggers a spark that starts the engine, electric cars have an on/off switch like other electrical appliances. Turning on the switch completes the electrical circuit and starts the engine.

Electric automobiles have been around longer than most people think. Electric, battery-operated vehicles were first produced in the late 1880s. Electric cars, trucks, and buses were popular modes of transportation at the turn of the century; electric trolleys and trains were familiar sights in cities. In 1900,...

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1. Motor Vehicles
   1. Who invented the automobile?
   2. Who started the first American automobile company?
   3. How many motor vehicles are registered in the United States?
   4. How did Ralph Nader's book Unsafe at Any Speed contribute to the demise of the Corvair automobile?
   5. When did seat belts become mandatory equipment on United States motor vehicles?
   6. How does the automobile safety device, the air bag, work and how well does it prevent injuries?
   7. Where was the first automobile license plate issued?
   8. Is the electric automobile an idea of the last twenty years or so?
   9. Has there ever been a nuclear-powered automobile?
   10. When was the Michelin tire introduced?
   11. How did the term "horsepower" originate?
   12. When was the parking meter introduced?
   13. How does police radar work?
   14. What is the origin of the term "taxicab"?
2. Aircraft
   1. What was the name of the Wright brothers' plane?
   2. Who made the first nonstop transatlantic flight?
   3. When was the first nonstop, unrefueled airplane flight around the world?
   4. What is the difference between an amphibian plane and a seaplane?
   5. Who made the first supersonic flight?
   6. Where is the black box carried on an airplane?
   7. What is avionics?
   8. When was the first full-scale wind tunnel for testing airplanes used?
   9. Who designed the Spruce Goose?
3. Boats And Ships
   1. Why is the right side of a ship called starboard?
   2. What is the world's largest ship?
   3. When was the first hospital ship built?
   4. What is the nautical meaning of the phrase "by and large"?
   5. When were the first nuclear-powered vessels launched?
   6. Why did the Titanic sink?
   7. Which type of wood was used to build Noah's ark?
4. Trains And Trolleys
   1. What was the route of the Orient Express?
   2. When was the first railroad in the United States chartered?
   3. What is the fastest train?
   4. What was the railroad velocipede?
   5. What is the world's longest railway?
   6. How does a cable car, like those in San Francisco, move?
5. Military Vehicles
   1. Where did the military tank get its name?
   2. What is a hummve?
   3. What is the name of the airplane which carried the first atomic bomb?
   4. Who was the "Red Baron"?