On This Day December 2nd

December 2nd, 1902 V-8 engine is patented
The first working V-8 engine was patented in France by engine designer Léon Levavasseur which he called Antoinette after the young daughter of his financial backer, and from 1904 installed the engine in a number of speedboats and aircraft which were also called "Antoinette", as was the company that built them. In 1909 one of these aircraft tried but failed to cross the English Channel.
The engine block was the first to arrange eight pistons in the V-formation that allowed a crankshaft with only four throws to be turned by eight pistons. Today, V-8 engines are extremely common in automobiles that need powerful motors.