---
title: "Which came first, the car or the hamburger?"
description: "the car vs the hamburger: the car came first, by 14 years — 1886 against 1900. What happened in each case, and why the dates are often given differently."
url: https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/car-vs-hamburger/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Which came first, the car or the hamburger?

**Which came first, the car or the hamburger?: the car**

1886 — 14 years before the hamburger

the car came first, by 14 years. Karl Benz patented the Motorwagen.

## Side by side

|  | the car | the hamburger |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Year | 1886 | 1900 |
| Date | 1886-01-29 | — |
| Category | invention | food |
| What happened | Karl Benz patented the Motorwagen. | Competing American claims put the first burger between 1885 and 1904. |

## the car

Benz's patent of 29 January 1886 is the usual date for the first practical petrol car. The vehicle's commercial breakthrough came from his wife: in 1888 Bertha Benz drove 106 km to Pforzheim without telling him, fixing the fuel line with a hatpin and the ignition with a garter on the way, and the resulting publicity sold the machine. Ford did not exist until 1903 and the Model T not until 1908.

## the hamburger

At least four places claim it. Charlie Nagreen said he flattened a meatball between bread at the Seymour Fair in Wisconsin in 1885; the Menches brothers claimed the same year at the Erie County Fair; Louis' Lunch in New Haven claims 1900; and Fletcher Davis of Athens, Texas is credited with introducing it at the 1904 St Louis World's Fair. No contemporary document settles it. What is documented is the Hamburg steak — chopped beef, no bun — on American menus from the 1870s.

## Common questions

### Which came first, the car or the hamburger?

the car, by 14 years — 1886 against 1900.

### When did the car start?

1886. Karl Benz patented the Motorwagen.

### When did the hamburger start?

1900. Competing American claims put the first burger between 1885 and 1904.

## Related pages

- [the Eiffel Tower or the hamburger?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/eiffel-tower-vs-hamburger/)
- [the hamburger or the Statue of Liberty?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/hamburger-vs-statue-of-liberty/)
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- [the hamburger or television?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/hamburger-vs-television/)
- [the hamburger or Nintendo?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/hamburger-vs-nintendo/)
- [the hamburger or Monopoly?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/hamburger-vs-monopoly/)
- [Fanta or the hamburger?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/fanta-vs-hamburger/)
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- [the car or the Eiffel Tower?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/car-vs-eiffel-tower/)

## Sources

- Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History — Smithsonian Institution (https://naturalhistory.si.edu/)
- Typical range compiled from manufacturer specifications — At One Place (/about/)