Nikolaus Otto | German engineer | Britannica
Jun 06, 2020· Nikolaus Otto, in full Nikolaus August Otto, (born June 10, 1832, Holzhausen, Nassau, Germany—died January 26, 1891, Cologne), German engineer who developed the four-stroke internal-combustion engine, which offered the first practical alternative to the steam engine as a power source.. Otto built his first gasoline-powered engine in 1861. Three years later he formed a partnership with the ...