- What's the earliest a practical internal combustion engine could have been invented?
- Who would be the pioneers of this technology?
- What effects would the internal combustion engine have on the affairs of the day?
Unlikey. The British would have favoured coal because until the twentieth century they did not control significant oil fields. Furthermore practical development beyond isolated examples is going to require earlier development of drilling oil wells ( the first one was only drilled in the mid nineteenth century). Thus you are going to require faster development of the entire industry. I will agree that using the technology for drilling for water is a very good starting point.the steam driven warship could nearly be skipped completely.