Asturias

Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos, philosopher, politician, Enlightenment thinker. Much of the drive for computer-driven vehicles has been led by DARPA with their Grand Challenge race. Severo Ochoa, 1959 Nobel Prize winner for Medicine. In order to limit deaths, there has been a push for self-driving automobiles. Letizia, Princess of Asturias, a native of Oviedo and wife of Felipe, Prince of Asturias. A much higher number of accidents result in injury or permanent disability. Fernando Alonso, Formula 1 racing driver, 2005 World Champion. The death toll is expected to nearly double worldwide by 2020.

Leopoldo Alas, 19th century author of La Regenta, a seminal work in the Spanish literary canon. This figure increases annually in step with rising population and increasing travel, but the rate per capita and per mile travelled decreases steadily. There are also services to Barcelona, Salamanca, León, Valladolid, La Coruña, Bilbao, Seville, San Sebastián, Paris, Brussels or Nice, to name just a few. Despite technological advances, there is still significant loss of life from car accidents: About 40,000 people die every year in the U.S., with similar trends in Europe. It links Avilés, Gijón, Oviedo and Mieres with Madrid, several times a day. There are also tests run by organizations such as IIHS and backed by the insurance industry. There is also a bus service within and without the region, run by the ALSA company. There are standard tests for safety in new automobiles, like the EuroNCAP and the US NCAP tests.

FEVE rail company links also the center of the region with Eastern and Western Asturias. Since then, most research has focused on absorbing external crash energy with crushable panels and reducing the motion of human bodies in the passenger compartment. Major stops are the regional capital, Oviedo, and the main coastal city, Gijón. Systematic research on crash safety started in 1958 at Ford Motor Company. Spain's national RENFE rail network also serves Asturias well; trains regularly depart to and from the Spanish interior. Brakes are hydraulic so that failures are slow leaks, rather than abrupt cable breaks. Eastern Asturias is now quite easily reached from Santander. For example, modern engine compartments are open at the bottom so that fuel vapors, which are heavier than air, vent to the open air.

Internal Spanish carriers such as Iberia and Spanair also serve Asturias, direct from Madrid and Barcelona, Brussels, London, Paris, Seville and others. Early safety research focused on increasing the reliability of brakes and reducing the flammability of fuel systems. A UK-based international carrier, Easyjet, began daily flights to the airport in March 2005. Both safety modifications of the roadway are thought to be too expensive by most funding authorities, although these modifications could dramatically increase the number of vehicles that could safely use a high-speed highway. Asturias is served by Ranon Airport (OVD), which is about an hour's road journey from Oviedo, near the northwest coast and the industrial town of Avilés. Shoulder-belted passengers could tolerate a 32G emergency stop (reducing the safe intervehicle gap 64-fold) if high-speed roads incorporated a steel rail for emergency braking. These subsidies are lately in doubt, given the expansion of the Union in 2004 to include the poorer states of the former Communist bloc. Automated control has been seriously proposed and successfully prototyped.

Asturias has benefited extensively since 1986 from European Union investment in roads and other essential infrastructure, though there has also been some controversy regarding how these funds are spent, for example, on miners' pensions. Cars have two basic safety problems: They have human drivers who make mistakes, and the wheels lose traction near a half gravity of deceleration. Large out-of-town retail parks have opened near the region's largest cities (Gijón and Oviedo), whilst the ever-present Spanish construction industry appears to continue to thrive. The first recorded automobile fatality was Bridget Driscoll on 1896-08-17 in London and the first in the United States was Henry Bliss on 1899-09-13 in New York City, NY. Regional economic growth is below the broader Spanish rate, though in recent years growth in service industries has helped reduce Asturias's high rate of unemployment. Joseph Cugnot crashed his steam-powered "Fardier" against a wall in 1770. The steel industry is now in decline, as is mining, as a result of competition from Eastern Europe, high costs of production, and declines in global steel demand. Accidents seem as old as automobile vehicles themselves.

The industry created many jobs which resulted in significant migration from other provinces in Spain, mainly Extremadura, Andalucía and Castilla y León. Millions have been able to reach medical care much more quickly when transported by ambulance. The then state-owned ENSIDESA company is now part of the privatised ARCELOR Group. Automobiles were a significant improvement in safety on a per passenger mile basis, over the horse based travel that they replaced. The main regional industry, though, is steel: in the times of Francisco Franco´s dictatorship, it was one of the most powerful in the world. Other R&D efforts in alternative forms of power focus on developing fuel cells, alternative forms of combustion such as GDI and HCCI, and even the stored energy of compressed air (see water Engine). Production of milk and its derivatives has also been traditionally strong, with products from the Central Lechera Asturiana being exported all over Spain. As of 2005, The car is still in production and achieves around 60 mpg.

For many centuries the backbone of the Asturian economy was coal mining, steel production and fishing. The first hybrid vehicle available for sale in the USA was the Honda Insight. Asturian cheeses, especially Cabrales, are also famous throughout Spain and beyond; Asturias is often called "the land of cheeses" (el pais de los quesos) due to the product's diversity and quality in this region. Current research and development is centered on "hybrid" vehicles that use both electric power and internal combustion. Apple groves foster the production of the traditional alcoholic drink, a natural cider (sidra). Battery powered cars have used lead-acid batteries which are greatly damaged in their recharge capacity if discharged beyond 75% on a regular basis and NiMH batteries. The most famous regional dish is Fabada Asturiana, a rich stew made with large white beans (fabes), shoulder of pork (lacón), black sausage (morcilla), spicy sausage (chorizo) and saffron (azafrán). Attempts at building viable battery-powered electric vehicles continued throughout the 1990s (notably General Motors with the EV1), but cost, speed and inadequate driving range made them uneconomical.

Asturias is especially known for its seafood. Brazil is the only country which produces ethanol-running cars, since the late 1970s. VIRTUAL TOURS (with over 450 photographs) http://www.asturiasenimagenes.com/. In the United States, alcohol fuel was produced in corn-alcohol stills until Prohibition criminalized the production of alcohol in 1919. Best viewed at low tide. Of course, certain measures are available to increase this efficiency, such as different camshaft configurations, altering the timing/spark output of the ignition, or simply, using a larger fuel tank. The unusual rock formation on the beach at Buelna village: east of Llanes. Therefore, if your vehicle is capable of 300 miles on a 15-gallon tank, the efficiency is reduced to approximately 150 miles.

The coastal way (senda costera) between Pendueles and Llanes: This partly-paved nature route takes in some of Asturias' most spectacular coastal scenery, such as the noisy bufones (large water spouts created naturally by the erosion of the sea) and the Playa de Ballota. Further, the use of higher levels of alcohol requires that the automobile carry/use twice as much. La Mesa (The Table): an unusually-shaped peak above the village of Tuiza de Arriba, high in the Ubiñas mountain range south of Oviedo. There has been some concern that the ethanol-gasoline mixtures prematurely wear down seals and gaskets. The Dobra River: south of Cangas de Onís, famous for its unusual colour and natural beauty. All petrol fuelled cars can run on LPG. Of particular interest in this exemplary settlement are the traditional horreo grain silos, raised on stilts so as to keep field mice from getting at the grain. Most cars that are designed to run on gasoline are capable of running with 15% ethanol mixed in, and with a small amount of redesign, gasoline-powered vehicles can run on ethanol concentrations as high as 85%.

Ceceda village: east of Oviedo along the N634 road. Many cars that currently use gasoline can run on ethanol, a fuel made from plant sugars. Other places of interest are.... Diesel-powered cars can run with little or no modification on 100% pure biodiesel, a fuel that can be made from vegetable oils. The Asturian coast: especially the beaches in and around the summer resort of Llanes, and the Playa del Silencio near Cudillero fishing village. With heavy taxes on fuel, particularly in Europe and tightening environmental laws, particularly in California, and the possibility of further restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions, work on alternative power systems for vehicles continues. The Reconquista and eventual unification of all Spain is therefore said to have started in this very location. For example, in the 1950s, Chevrolet shared hood, doors, roof, and windows with Pontiac; the LaSalle of the 1930s, sold by Cadillac, used the cheaper mechanical parts made by the Oldsmobile division.

The shrine to the Virgin Mary of Covadonga and the mountain lakes (los lagos), near Cangas de Onís: Legend has it that in the 8th century, the Virgin blessed Asturian Christian forces with a well-timed signal to attack Spain's Moorish conquerors, thereby taking the invaders by surprise. The makes shared parts with one another so that the larger production volume resulted in lower costs for each price range. Weather permitting, it can be viewed clearly from Camarmeña village, near Las Arenas de Cabrales. Sloan who established the idea of different makes of cars produced by one firm, so that buyers could "move up" as their fortunes improved. The Picos de Europa National park, and other parts of the Asturian mountain range: The most famous peak in the park is the Picu Urriellu, also known as Naranjo de Bulnes (2519 m), a molar-shaped mountain which glows orange in the evening sun, hence its name. It was Alfred P. Santa María del Naranco and San Miguel de Lillo, a prerromanic church and a prerromanic castle build by the first Asturian kings are held in the Naranco mountain. Cars are not merely continually perfected mechanical contrivances; since the 1920s nearly all have been mass-produced to meet a market, so marketing plans and manufacture to meet them have often dominated automobile design.

Oviedo, the capital city of Asturias: Nowadays is a cosmopolite city where art, culture and tradition are found in the town center. Developed by Bosch, these electronic systems have enabled automobiles to drastically reduce exhaust emissions while increasing efficiency and power. Major attractions include.... The chief exception to this was electronic engine management, which entered into wide use in the 1960s, when electronic parts became cheap enough to be mass-produced and rugged enough to handle the harsh environment of an automobile. Annual rainfall is above 900 mm in all the region (Gijón-Xixón, 971 mm), increasing as we move from the coast to the interior, and reaching its peak in Picos de Europa ( Amieva, 1800 mm). For the most part, "new" automotive technology was a refinement on earlier work, though these refinements were sometimes so extensive as to render the original work nearly unrecognizable. Both rain and sunshine are regular weather features of Asturian winters. Since 1960, the number of manufacturers has remained virtually constant, and innovation slowed.

The cold is especially felt in the mountains, where snow is present from November till May. After 1930, the number of auto manufacturers declined sharply as the industry consolidated and matured. Winters are fairly mild but with some very cold snaps. For example, front-wheel drive was re-introduced by Andre Citroën with the launch of the Traction Avant in 1934, though it appeared several years earlier in road cars made by Alvis and Cord, and in racing cars by Miller (and may have appeared as early as 1897). Summers are generally humid and warm, with considerable sunshine, but also some rain. By the 1930s, most of the technology used in automobiles had been invented, although it was often re-invented again at a later date and credited to someone else. The climate of Asturias, as with the rest of northwest Spain, is more varied than that of southern parts of the country. Key developments included electric ignition and the electric self-starter (both by Charles Kettering, for the Cadillac Motor Company in 1910-1911), independent suspension, and four-wheel brakes.

Most of Asturias' beaches are sandy, clean and bordered by steep cliffs, on top of which it is not unusual to see grazing livestock. Through the period from 1900 to the mid 1920s, development of automotive technology was rapid, due in part to the hundreds of small manufacturers competing to gain the world's attention. Notable examples include the Playa del Silencio (Beach of Silence) near the fishing village of Cudillero (west of Gijón), as well as the many beaches surrounding the summer resort of Llanes, such as the Barro, Ballota and Torimbia (the latter a predominantly nudist beach). Early automobiles were often referred to as 'horseless carriages', and did not stray far from the design of their predecessor. The Asturian coastline is extensive, with hundreds of beaches, coves and natural sea caves. The large scale, production-line manufacturing of affordable automobiles was debuted by Oldsmobile in 1902, then greatly expanded by Henry Ford in the 1910s. Perhaps surprisingly, climate change appears to have benefited the ski stations in recent times: relatively heavy snowfalls sustained the stations in the winters of 2003/2004 and 2004/2005. Steam, electric, and gasoline powered autos competed for decades, with gasoline internal combustion engines achieving dominance in the 1910s.

In this era of climate change snow fall is unpredictable, but the skiing season generally runs from December to April inclusive. A major breakthrough came with the historic drive of Bertha Benz in 1888. Asturias has two impressive ski stations, San Isidro and Pajares, both of which are easily accessed by road from the capital, Oviedo. This patent did more to hinder than encourage development of autos in the USA. The Cantabrian mountains offer opportunities for activities such as climbing, walking, skiing and caving, and extend some 200 kilometres in total, as far as Galicia province to the west of Asturias, and Cantabria province to the east. Patent 549160). Other notable features of this predominantly-limestone range are the Parque Natural de Redes in the central east, the central Ubiñas south of Oviedo, and the Parque Natural de Somiedo in the west. Selden was granted a United States patent for a two-stroke automobile engine (U.S.

The Picos de Europa National Park forms the eastern range and contains the highest and arguably most spectacular mountains, rising to 2648 metres at the Torrecerredo peak. On 5 November 1895, George B. The Cantabrian mountain range (Cordillera Cantábrica) is Asturias' natural border with León province to the south. The first automobile patent in the United States was granted to Oliver Evans in 1789; in 1804 Evans demonstrated his first successful self-propelled vehicle, which not only was the first automobile in the US but was also the first amphibious vehicle, as his steam-powered vehicle was able to travel on wheels on land and via a paddle wheel in the water. The key features of Asturian geography are its rugged cliffy coast and its mountainous interior. Electric vehicles were produced by a small number of manufacturers. Since 1999 the President of the Government of Asturias has been Vicente Álvarez Areces, of the Spanish Socialist Worker's Party (PSOE). It was in Birmingham also that the first British four wheel petrol-driven automobiles were built in 1895 by Frederick William Lanchester who also patented the disc brake in the city.

The Asturian regional government holds comprehensive competencies in important areas such as health, education and protection of the environment. It was here that the term horsepower was first used. In 1982 Asturias became an Autonomous Community within the decentralized territorial structure established by the Constitution of 1978.
Meanwhile, notable advances in steam power evolved in Birmingham, England by the Lunar Society. The province's name was restored fully after the return of democracy to Spain, in 1977. Henry Ford was notoriously against the American patent system, and Selden's case against Ford went all the way to the Supreme Court, who ruled that Ford and everyone else was free to build automobiles without paying royalties to Selden, since automobile technology had improved since Selden's patent, and no one was building those antiquated designs. With Franco eventually gaining control of all Spain, Asturias - traditionally linked to the Spanish crown - was known merely as the 'Province of Oviedo' from 1936 until Franco's death in 1975. Selden received his patent and later sued the Ford Motor Company for infringing his patent.

As a result, Asturias remained loyal to the democratic republican government during the war, and was the scene of an extraordinary defence in extreme terrain, the Battle of El Mazuco. Selden didn't build a single car until 1905, when he was forced to do so due to the lawsuit. Troops under the command of Francisco Franco were brought from the North African colonies to put down the rebellion and a ferocious oppression followed. The first American automobile with gasoline-powered internal combustion engines was supposedly designed in 1877 by George Baldwin Selden of Rochester, New York, who applied for a patent on the automobile in 1879. In 1934, the left-wing workers' movement fought the right-wing government of the Second Spanish Republic in the so-called 'Revolution of Asturias'. They were inspired by Daimler's Stalhradwagen of 1889, which was exhibited in Paris in 1889. Like all Spain, Asturias played its part in the events that led up to and include the Spanish Civil War. In 1890, Emile Levassor and Armand Peugeot of France began series-producing vehicles with Daimler engines, and so laid the foundation of the motor industry in France.

The heritage of these wealthy families can still be seen in Asturias today: many large 'modernista' villas are dotted across the region, as well as cultural institutions such as free schools and public libraries. From about 1890-1895 about 30 vehicles were built by Daimler and his innovative assistant, Maybach, either at the Daimler works or in the Hotel Hermann, where they set up shop after having a falling out with their backers. These entrepreneurs were known collectively as 'Indianos', for having visited and made their fortunes in the West Indies and beyond. In 1889, he built two vehicles from scratch, with several innovations. At the same time there was significant migration to the Americas; those who succeeded overseas often returned to their native land much wealthier. Daimler built a car in 1886 - a new horse carriage fitted with his new high-speed 4-stroke engine. The Industrial Revolution came to Asturias with the discovery and systematic exploitation of coal and iron resources. Because France was more open to the automobile in general, more were built and sold in France than by Benz himself in Germany.

Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos, a polimath and prominent reformer and politician of the late 18th century, was born in the seaside town of Gijón (Xixón in the Asturian language). Emile Roger of France, already producing Benz engines under license, now added the Benz car to his line of products. The renowned thinker Benito de Feijoo settled in the Benedictine Monastery of San Vicente, Oviedo. They were powered with four-stroke engines of his own design. During the 18th Century, Asturias was one of the centres of the Spanish Enlightenment. Appromixately 25 were built until 1893, when his first four-wheeler was introduced. After the fading of the 'Regnum Astorum' (Kingdom of Asturias), this historic land survived as a marginal territory in the north of Spain, although it provided the Spanish court with high-ranking aristocrats and played an important role in the colonisation of the Americas. Benz, after building his first three-wheeled car in 1885, built improved versions in 1886 and 1887, and went into production in 1888 -- the world's first vehicle to do so.

For this reason since the 14th century the heir to the Spanish throne automatically takes the title Prince of Asturias, much as the heir to the British throne is the Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall. The internal-combustion-engined car really can be said to have begun with Benz and Daimler in 1886, for their vehicles were successful, they went into series-production, and they inspired others. Due to its situation and difficult terrain, the territories along the north coast of Spain were never part of Islamic Spain; the north served as the nucleus of a small Christian enclave, the Kingdom of Asturias, which was linked to Spain's visigoth kingdom. But if all of the above experiments hadn't taken place, the development of the automobile wouldn't have been retarded by so much as a moment, since they were unknown experiments that went no further than the testing stage. . Although nothing more than a toy, it is said to have operated somewhat successfully, unlike Murginotti's and Deboutteville's vehicles. Asturias is bordered to the east by Cantabria, to the south by Castilla y León, to the west by Galicia, and to the north by the Cantabrian Sea. The same year, Enrico Bernardi, another Italian, installed a similar engine on his son's tricycle.

See also List of municipalities in Asturias, Comarcas of Asturias.. Also about 1884, an Italian by the name of Murginotti installed an IC engine on a tricycle, but it appears the engine wasn't powerful enough to make the vehicle move. Other towns include Mieres, Langreo, Pola de Siero, Cangas de Onís, Cangas del Narcea, Grado, Pola de Lena, Pola de Laviana, El Entrego, Villaviciosa, and Llanes. No one else knew of the vehicles and experiments until years later. The capital is Oviedo, and other noteworthy cities are the major seaport Gijón, the largest city in Asturias, and the industrial town of Avilés. No more vehicles were built by the two men, and their venture went completely unnoticed and their patent unexploited. It is situated on the north coast facing the Cantabrian Sea (Mar Cantábrico, the Spanish name for the Bay of Biscay). However, during the vehicle's first test, the frame broke apart, the vehicle literally "shaking itself to pieces," in Malandin's own words.

The Principality of Asturias (Asturian: Principau d'Asturies or Asturies) has an extensive history and is an autonomous community within the country of Spain. The patent, and presumably the vehicle, contained many innovations, some of which wouldn't be used for decades. This one consisted of two four-stroke, liquid-fueled engines mounted to an old four-wheeled horse cart. In 1884, Delamare-Deboutteville and Malandin built and patented a second vehicle. As they tested the vehicle, the tank hose came loose, resulting in an explosion.

In 1883, Edouard Delamare-Deboutteville and Leon Malandin of France installed an internal-combustion engine powered by a tank of city gas on a tricycle. Reithmann had been experimenting with IC-engines as early as 1852. There is some evidence, although not conclusive, that one Christian Reithmann, an Austrian living in Germany, had built a four-stroke engine entirely on his own by 1873. He knew nothing of Beau de Rochas's patent or idea, and came upon the idea entirely on his own; in fact, he began thinking about it in 1861, but abandoned the idea until the mid-1870's.

Most historians agree that Nikolaus Otto of Germany built the world's first four-stroke engine. Beau de Rochas never built a single engine. In fact, hardly anyone knew of it to begin with. He printed about 300 copies of his pamphlet and they were distributed in Paris, but nothing came of this, with the patent expiring soon after and the pamphlet disappearing into total obscurity.

The four-stroke engine had already been written down and patented in 1862 by the Frenchman Beau de Rochas in a long-winded and rambling pamphlet. In 1888/1889, he built a second car, this one with seats, brakes and steering, and a four-stroke engine of his own design. It was tested in Vienna in September of 1870. In 1870, he built a crude vehicle, with no seats, steering or brakes, but it was spectacular for one reason: it was the world's first internal-combustion-engine-powered vehicle fueled by gasoline.

He developed the idea of using gasoline as a fuel in a two-stroke internal-combustion engine. The next innovation comes in the 1860s, with Siegfried Marcus, a German working in Vienna, Austria. If he did, he most certainly didn't use gasoline, as this was not well-known and was considered a waste product. Lenoir is said to have tested liquid fuel, such as alcohol, in his stationary engines; but it doesn't appear he used them in his vehicle.

It seems to have been powered by city lighting-gas in bottles, and was said by Lenoir to have "travelled slower than a man could walk, with breakdowns being frequent." Lenoir, in his patent of 1860, included the provision of a carburettor, so liquid fuel could be substituted for gas, particularly for mobile purposes, i.e., vehicles. In about 1863, Lenoir installed his engine in a vehicle. Etienne Lenoir produced the first successful internal-combustion engine in 1860, and within a few years, about 400 were in operation in Paris. It was not very successful, as was the case with the British inventor, Brown, and the American inventor, Morey, who produced clumsy IC-engine-powered vehicles about 1826.

He subsequently used it to develop the world’s first vehicle to run on such an engine, one that used a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen to generate energy. In 1806 Fransois Isaac de Rivaz, a Swiss, designed the first internal combustion engine (sometimes abbreviated "ICE" today). In 1771 he designed another steam-driven car, which ran so fast that it rammed into a wall, producing the world’s first car accident. The first self-propelled car was built by [[--70.49.56.157 00:57, 4 February 2006 (UTC)]] 00:54, 4 February 2006 (UTC)]] in 1769—it could attain speeds of up to 6 km/h.

Steam-powered self-propelled cars were devised in the late 18th century. These inventors are: Karl Benz on July 3, 1886 in Mannheim, Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach in Stuttgart (also inventors of the first motor bike) and in 1888/89 German-Austrian inventor Siegfried Marcus in Vienna, although Marcus didn't go beyond the prototype stage.
. Even though Karl Benz is credited with the invention of the modern automobile, several other German engineers worked on building the first automobile at the same time. The modern automobile powered by the Otto gasoline engine was invented in Germany by Karl Benz.

. The biggest two companies are General Motors (GM) and Toyota. As of 2005 there are 500 million cars worldwide (0.074 per capita), of which 220 million are located in the United States (0.75 per capita). It is the main source of transportation across the world.

An automobile has seats for the driver and, almost without exception, one or more passengers. Earlier terms for automobile include 'horseless carriage' and 'motor car'. The term is derived from Greek 'autos' (self) and Latin 'movére' (move), referring to the fact that it 'moves by itself'. Different types of automobiles include cars, buses, trucks, vans, and motorcycles, with cars being the most popular.

An automobile is a wheeled vehicle that carries its own motor.