June 1, 1896

Posted on June 1, 2019 by Joel Byers

On June 1, 1896, the first recorded automobile theft happened in Paris, France. Early automobile enthusiast Baron de Zuylen’s Peugot went missing. He’d taken it to the manufacturer for repairs and the mechanic, after fixing it, drove it like he stole it to the nearby town of Asnieres. As a matter of fact, he did steal it. Unfortunately for him, in 1896 there weren’t that many automobiles in the world, so it was easy for the police to find it. It was subsequently recovered and returned to the Baron. The name of the thief and his reason for stealing the car were not recorded, but since gasoline was not being sold at every corner store in 1896, it is wondered how the mechanic planned on continually driving the car, or was it a theft where he planned to immediately resale it? Since it wasn’t considered important enough to record, we’ll never know now.

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About Joel Byers

Born in North Georgia and educated at some very fine public institutions. Real education started after graduating from college and then getting married and raising two boys. Has the ability to see the funny and absurd in most things and will always remark on it, even if it means getting the stink-eye from his victims.
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