[1][2] Nicolaus August Otto was born on 10 June 1832[3] in Holzhausen an der Haide, Germany.

His main interest in school had been in science and technology but he graduated after three years as a business apprentice in a small merchandise company.

Otto was aware of the concept of compressed fuel charge and tried to make an engine using this principle in 1861.

[2][3] From 1862 to 1863 Otto experimented with the help of Cologne Mechanic Michael J. Zons in an effort to improve the engine.

It consumed less than half the gas of the Lenoir and Hugon atmospheric engines and so was a commercial success.

The engines of Italian inventors Eugenio Barsanti and Felice Matteucci in their British Patent no 1625 of 1857, were built and are in a museum.

[8] Largely due to the efforts of Franz Rings and Herman Schumm, who were brought into the company by Gottlieb Daimler Otto succeeded in making the Four Stroke, Compressed Charge engine.

He built the following engines: Otto married Anna Gossi and the couple had seven recorded children.

When his former manager Gottlieb Daimler wanted to build small engines for transportation Otto showed no interest.

Daimler had no desire to pay royalties to Otto (Deutz AG) and so hired a lawyer to find a solution.

This resulted in Otto losing one of his patents and allowed Daimler to sell his engines in Germany without paying royalties.