Was there really a time when cars didn't have seatbelts?

When were seatbelts invented? How does a seatbelt work? How were Crash Test Dummies able to get people to wear their seatbelt? For free home activities sign-up at www.WhoSmarted.com See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.