Josip Belušić, born on March twelfth, eighteen forty-seven, in the quaint settlement of Županići in Istria, Croatia, was a remarkable inventor and educator. His early education took place in Pazin and Koper, after which he pursued further studies in Vienna. Eventually, he returned to Istria, where he would create his most notable invention, the speedometer.
After completing his academic journey, Belušić took on the role of a professor of physics and mathematics at the Royal School of Koper. His career progressed as he became the director of the Maritime School of Castelnuovo, where he also served as an assistant professor, shaping the minds of future generations.
In eighteen eighty-seven, Belušić publicly demonstrated his groundbreaking invention, an electric speedometer, which he patented in Austria-Hungary under the name Velocimeter. His innovative design garnered attention at the 1889 Exposition Universelle in Paris, where he rebranded it as Controllore automatico per vetture.
During the same year, a public competition held by the Municipality of Paris saw over one hundred twenty patents vying for recognition. Belušić's invention was celebrated for its precision and reliability, ultimately winning acceptance in June eighteen ninety. Within a year, one hundred devices were installed on carriages throughout Paris, marking a significant milestone in transportation technology.
Belušić's invention is recognized as the first monitoring device in history, paving the way for modern measuring and surveillance technologies used in trucks, buses, and taxis today. As such, he is often regarded as the father of monitoring devices, leaving a lasting legacy in the field of innovation.