220px, Gottlob Honold 1910 Gottlob Honold (26 August 1876 – 17 March 1923) was the leading engineer in the workshop of

Robert Bosch Robert Bosch (23 September 1861 – 12 March 1942) was a German industrialist, engineer and inventor, founder of Robert Bosch GmbH. Biography Bosch was born in Albeck, a village to the northeast of Ulm in southern Germany as the eleventh of ...

and, with Bosch, was the inventor of the

spark plug A spark plug (sometimes, in British English, a sparking plug, and, colloquially, a plug) is a device for delivering electric current from an ignition system to the combustion chamber of a spark-ignition engine to ignite the compressed fuel/ai ...

and the modern

internal combustion engine An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal co ...

, as well as

headlights A headlamp is a lamp attached to the front of a vehicle to illuminate the road ahead. Headlamps are also often called headlights, but in the most precise usage, ''headlamp'' is the term for the device itself and ''headlight'' is the term for ...

. The combination of the Bosch spark plug and the high voltage

magneto A magneto is an electrical generator that uses permanent magnets to produce periodic pulses of alternating current. Unlike a dynamo, a magneto does not contain a commutator to produce direct current. It is categorized as a form of alternator, ...

, a process patented on 7 January 1902, made it possible for the gasoline-powered engine to become the standard for motor vehicles. Honold was born on 26 August 1876 in

Langenau Langenau is a town in the district of Alb-Donau in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. It is situated 14 km northeast of Ulm. Transport Langenau is located directly on the Autobahn A7 and near the A8 Public transport is guaranteed by the Do ...

, in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

, about 10 miles northeast of Ulm. Honold's father was a friend of the father of Robert Bosch, and in 1891, Honold first worked in Bosch's Stuttgart workshop at the age of 14. Following graduation from the Ulm gymnasium, Honold studied engineering at the Stuttgart technical university. In 1901, Honold accepted an offer to become the technical manager of Bosch's company, and worked on the task of developing an improved ignition system for combustion engines. The Daimler company ordered the Bosch engine and was soon breaking automotive speed records. Honold continued work on faster and more powerful engines. In 1913, Honold helped develop the automotive headlights that are used today. Although lights had been used to some extent for night driving, the early lanterns did little more than to draw attention to a vehicle, and were of little use for illumination. It was Honold who conceived the idea of placing curved mirrors behind the lamp to increase the amount of light without taxing the automotive electrical system. Honold also helped develop the Bosch car horn. Honold died in Stuttgart on 17 March 1923.

See also