Atkinson "Cycle" Gas Engine
date: label: date made
content: 1889 - 1890
notes: label: Description
content: This Atkinson gas engine is an illuminating gas engine and is one of the earlier known examples of gas engines and was used by the donor’s grandfather in the nineteenth century. It was procured by the original owners from Henry Warden’s business in Germantown, Philadelphia, PA in 1887.
label: Description
content: James Atkinson (1846 – 1914) of Hampstead was a British engineer. The Atkinson cycle engines were named the "Differential 1882", "Cycle 1887" and "Utilite 1892". The most well-known of Atkinson's engines is the "Cycle 1887", patented in 1887. He was a major contributor to the development of internal combustion engines.
label: Description
content: His "Cycle" Engine was awarded the gold medal of the British Society of Arts at the competitive trials of 1888. In the same year, he took a "Cycle" engine to America, and submitted it for trial to the scientific committee of the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia, who were so satisfied with its performance that they awarded him the John Scott Legacy Medal and Premium, this being the first time this honor had been awarded to any but an American.
label: Description
content: This engine was gifted to the Smithsonian in 1931 by the heirs of Samuel Powell of Newport, RI (d.1885).
place: label: place made
content: United States: Pennsylvania
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Mechanical and Civil Engineering
label: See more items in
content: Bicycling
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Heirs of Samuel Powel, Providence, Rhode Island
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MC.310371
label: catalog number
content: 310371
label: accession number
content: 117006
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Engine, Internal Combustion
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 4 in x 3 in x 5 in; 10.16 cm x 7.62 cm x 12.7 cm