Clessie Lyle Cummins was the founder of the Cummins Engine Co. He was an entrepreneur who improved on existing diesel engines, created new diesel engine designs, and filed 33 United States patents for his inventions. Cummins Inc. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The diesel engine is a type of internal combustion engine; more specifically, it is a compression ignition engine, in which the fuel is ignited by being suddenly exposed to the high temperature and pressure of a compressed gas, rather than by a separate source of ignition, such as a spark...

Cummins began his career as a rural Indiana farm boy, and had no formal higher education. In the 1920s Cummins went to work for a banker named William Irwin in Columbus, Indiana, as a chauffeur and mechanic. Official language(s) English Capital Indianapolis Largest city Indianapolis Area  Ranked 38th  - Total 36,418 sq mi (94,321 km²)  - Width 140 miles (225 km)  - Length 270 miles (435 km)  - % water 1. ... The University of Cambridge is an institute of higher learning. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Social issues of the 1920s. ... William Irwin 13th Governor of California Bill Irwin is also the name of a modern-day American actor and clown William Irwin (1827 - March 15, 1886) was a California politician from the Democratic Party, who served as Governor of California between 1875 and 1880 after having been Acting Lieutenant Governor... Columbus is the county seat of Bartholomew County, Indiana. ... A chauffeur is someone who drives an automobile as a job, most often meaning a luxury sedan such as a limousine or a stretch limo, although technically anybody who drives can be called a chauffeur; the word is simply French for professional driver. In some countries, particularly developing nations where... A mechanic works on the rear end of a car An auto mechanic is a mechanic who specializes in automobile maintenance, repair, and sometimes modification and design. ...

Foundation of Cummin's Engine Co.

During this time, he founded the Cummins Engine Co, Inc (now Cummins, Inc). At the time of its founding, the Cummins Engine Company sold diesel engines to farmers. Cummins Inc. ...

Cummins' former employer, Irwin, invested a great deal of money in Cummins' company, which continued to be profitable for a long period. However, Irwin was not satisfied with the company's profits and threatened to cease investing. Sales of diesel engines to farmers through the Sears-Roebuck catalog was not generating significant profits. Sears, Roebuck and Company (NYSE: S) was founded in Chicago, Illinois as a catalog merchandiser in 1886 by Richard Sears and Alvah Roebuck. ...

Clessie Cummins secured a Packard limousine (a vehicle with a large engine compartment) and fitted one of his best engines into it with 3/8-inch to spare ^{[citation needed]}. He and an assistant drove the vehicle to the 1929 ^{[citation needed]} auto show in New York City ^{[citation needed]} using $1.39 worth of diesel fuel. The pair arranged for publicity along the way, but when they arrived at the show they found that they had been banned from any presentation. Cummins proceeded to rent space across the street from the Auto Show, and the "$1.39 for fuel, Indy to NYC" auto become a popular feature of the show (despite not technically being included in it). Packard red hexagon symbol made its debut in 1905, with the color red added in 1913 Packard was a United States based brand of luxury automobile built by the Packard Motors Company of Detroit,Michigan, and later by the Studebaker-Packard Corporation of South Bend, Indiana. ... 2006 Cadillac DTS Presidential Limousine A limousine (or limo) is a long luxury car, traditionally black in color. ... 1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Flag Seal Nickname: The Big Apple, The Capital of the World[1], Gotham [2], Metropolis Location Location in the state of New York Government Counties (Boroughs) Bronx (The Bronx) New York (Manhattan) Queens (Queens) Kings (Brooklyn) Richmond (Staten Island) Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Geographical characteristics Area     City 1,214. ...

Cummins' times with the engine company continued to be tumultuous even after this success, but money was being made. Cummins' first successful engine design, the Model F, was originally used for marine applications, but came to be used in other applications. In 1930, one of Cummins' engines was installed in a racecar which broke the Indy 500 record for completing the race with no pit stops ^{[citation needed]}. An engine is something that produces some effect from a given input. ... The Indianapolis 500 is an American race for open-wheel automobiles held annually over the Memorial Day weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. ...

World War II ensured the success of the fledgling company: the American military bought every diesel engine which could be produced in preparation for an Allied invasion of continental Europe. Combatants Allies: Soviet Union, United Kingdom, France/Free France, United States, Canada, China, India, Australia, Poland, New Zealand, South Africa, Greece, and others Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan, Bulgaria, Finland, Romania, Hungary, Burma, Slovakia Casualties Military dead: 17 million Civilian dead: 33 million Total dead: 50 million Military dead: 8... World map showing Europe Political map Europe is one of the seven continents of Earth which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiographic one, leading to various perspectives about Europes borders. ...

Legacy

Eventually Cummins was eased out of the company he created, but he had managed to hold onto some key patents. Cummins moved on to work for the Allison Engine Company in California. A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a government to an inventor or applicant for a limited amount of time (normally maximum 20 years from the filing date, depending on extension). ... The Allison Engine Company was an aircraft engine manufacturer that was acquired by Rolls-Royce in 1995. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ...

Cummins, Inc. is now a worldwide builder of diesel engines with annual sales in the billions of dollars ^{[citation needed]}, and his inventions and innovations lived on in the form of the four-cycle Model F engine (1924) and the compression release engine brake (1954). Diesel or Diesel fuel is a specific fractional distillate of fuel oil (mostly petroleum) that is used as fuel in a diesel engine invented by German engineer Rudolf Diesel. ... 1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

See also

• Cummins Engine Co

Cummins Inc. ...

References

• My days with the diesel: The memoirs of Clessie L. Cummins, father of the highway diesel, by Clessie L Cummins.

External links

• The Cummins, Inc. company website,

• Autoweek article about Cummins' diesel-powered racecar, with photographs,

• Indiana Business article on Cummins from January 2005.