Lester Peters Jr., age 15, of Baton Rouge, La., for his question:

WHO BUILT THE FIRST SELF PROPELLED LAND VEHICLE?

America's first self propelled land vehicle was built in 1805 by an inventor, millwright and steam engine designer named Oliver Evans. His machine was called an amphibious digger.

Evans' machine was a steam powered dredge that was to be used in the Philadelphia harbor. Axles and wheels carried the craft, and its engine propelled it to the water, thus earning the claim of America's first self propelled land vehicle.

Evans also built steam engines and machinery for flour mills. He designed a steam propelled carriage, but it was never built.

"The time will come," Evans once said, "when people will travel in stages moved by steam engines from one city to another almost as fast as birds fly    15 to 20 miles an hour."

Evans was born in Newport, Del., in 1755 and lived until 1819.