Born in Portland, Indiana, in 1852, Elwood Haynes invented the first successful gasoline powered automobile, as well as stainless steel, the thermostat used in regulating temperatures in houses, the reflector mirror used for ship-to-shore signaling that can send a light beam 23 miles, used during wartimes, and many other items.

In 1892, he moved to Kokomo, where he designed the horseless carriage in 1894, and bought a gasoline-powered engine, which was one-cylinder with two cycles and one horsepower, from the Sintz Company in Grand Rapids. He paid the brothers, Elmer and Edgar Apperson, forty cents an hour to build the car from his diagrams. After it was built and successfully tested, the Appersons and Haynes created a corporation to build cars until 1902. Haynes went on to invent the muffler and different metal alloys. His most important invention was probably stellite alloy, which opened the door to the development of a series of space age alloys of the highest melting temperatures, taking the greatest stress, and virtually eliminating corrosion.

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