When President Obama mentioned in Tuesday’s speech to Congress that the United States invented the automobile, podcast listener Hayden questioned if that was exactly accurate. Turns out, your instincts were right, Hayden.

Because invention tends to be a long, collaborative process, pinpointing one inventor is almost always tricky. Nevertheless, most experts agree that it’s a mistake to say the car originated in the United States. Purists might want go all the way back to Da Vinci’s design for a car. However, many point to Germany’s Karl Benz as the inventor of the modern automobile.

Benz invented a horseless carriage with an internal combustion engine on three wheels in 1885. If that doesn’t convince you, let’s move on to our next eligible contestant: Gottlieb Daimler. Daimler, independent from Benz but also a German, constructed a four-wheeler in 1886 with his partner, Wilhelm Maybach. Only one American team makes the list: the Duryea brothers in 1893.