Automobiles are the means by which many people travel long distances. However, before cars were invented and before they became common in places such as Africa, people travelled on foot for long distances, sometimes taking weeks to arrive at their destinations.

So who invented the automobile or car as it is commonly known? According to Everyday Mysteries, a fun science facts website, it was Karl Benz. Benz is given credited for creating the first "true automobile.” He is said to have created it between 1885 and 1886.

However, this is not to say that Benz was the first person to think of the idea of the automobile. According to a book by author Leonard Bruno on "Science and Technology Firsts”, there are quite a number of inventors who made semblances of modern automobiles.

Everyday Mysteries points out, for instance, that Leonardo da Vinci, an Italian polymath created designs and models for transport vehicles.

Bruno also points out other inventors such as Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot. Cugnot built a three-wheeled steam vehicle known as a tricycle in 1769. Robert Anderson, another inventor, built an electric carriage from 1832 to 1839.

The reason as to why Karl Benz is given credit for creating the modern automobile is explained by Lauren Cox a contributor to articles for Live Science, a knowledge dissemination platform.

In an article titled "Who Invented the Car?” Cox explains: "Karl Benz gets the credit for inventing the automobile because his car was practical, used a gasoline-powered internal-combustion engine and worked like modern cars do today.”

So who is Karl Benz? According to biography.com, an online platform that provides profiles on famous people, Karl Benz was a German engineer and inventor. He was born on 25th November 1884. He was born in a poor family as his father was a rail worker.

Benz died in 1929, just two years after he merged with fellow car-maker Gottlieb Daimler’s company to form what is today the Daimler Group, manufacturer of the Mercedes-Benz. This is according to Cox.

Cars are fascinating and complicated yet simple at the same time. There are quite a number of interesting things about this now common means of transport.

For example, the word "car” according to Wikipedia, is derived from the Latin wordcarrus or carrumwhich means "wheeled vehicle.”

Another interesting fact about cars according to factslides.com, a knowledge content website, there are one billion cars currently being used on earth.

Factslides.com also states that it can take less than 6 months to get to the moon by car if someone is driving at 95 kilometres per hour. It should go without saying, though, that you can’t get to the moon by car.