Which inventor built the first successful liquid-fueled rocket, launched in 1926?

Robert H. Goddard built the first successful liquid-fueled rocket, launched in 1926.

Goddard launched the rocket on March 16, 1926, from a farm in Auburn, Massachusetts. It burned gasoline and liquid oxygen, rose about 41 feet, and flew for roughly 2.5 seconds. Although the flight was short, it proved that a rocket could use liquid propellants in a working propulsion system.

Liquid-fueled rockets offered major advantages over solid-fuel designs because their thrust could be controlled by managing the propellant flow. Goddard developed pumps, combustion chambers, and stabilizing systems that later became central to rocket engineering.

Goddard had already patented important rocket ideas, including multistage rockets and liquid-propellant systems. His work was initially dismissed or misunderstood by much of the press, but later space programs recognized his technical importance. Tsiolkovsky and Oberth developed influential theories, while von Braun led later large-scale rocket programs.