On the other hand, I have not so far been able to discover who invented the pallet, pallet truck and fork-lift truck. The date of their invention is also unknown. When I researched in the 1960 edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica in order to discover the state of the art 25 years ago, I only found illustrations of motor trucks. In-plant industrial vehicles (for which German has the curious term "Flurfördergerät") were not shown. Furthermore, the entry under the title Lifting gear only dealt with elevators and hoists. The reason cannot be the hydraulic system s this has been around for 2,000 years 6).