The first practical petrol engine was built in 1876 in Germany by Nikolaus August Otto, although there had been earlier attempts by Étienne Lenoir, Siegfried Marcus, Julius Hock and George Brayton. The first petrol combustion engine (one cylinder, 121.6 cm displacement) was prototyped in 1882 in Italy by Enrico Bernardi. British engineer Edward Butler constructed the first petrol (gasoline) internal combustion engine. Butler invented the spark plug, ignition magneto, coil ignition and spray jet carburetor, and was the first to use the word petrol.
who developed a machine which could be run by petrol
Nikolaus August Otto