Post by Dave Hallaway on Mar 24, 2010 7:26:17 GMT -5
Stumbled across this a while back and thought it was fun.
A Quick History of Bicycles
The Walking Machine
In 1817 Baron von Drais invented a walking machine that would help him get around the royal gardens faster: two same-size in-line wheels, the front one steerable, mounted in a frame which you straddled. The device was propelled by pushing your feet against the ground, thus rolling yourself and the device forward in a sort of gliding walk. The machine became known as the Draisienne or hobby horse. It was made entirely of wood. This enjoyed a short lived popularity as a fad, not being practical for transportation in any other place than a well maintained pathway such as in a park or garden.
More at www.pedalinghistory.com/PHhistory.html
Of course history is always open to controversy.
To add to the confusion, in recent years several early icons of bicycle history have been relegated to the hopper of popular myth. Most, if not all, alleged developments before the granting of the Von Drais patent in 1818 are highly conjectural.
Click photo to enlarge
For example, the drawing of a “bicycle” (circa 1493) purported to be by Giacomo Caprotti, a pupil of Leonardo da Vinci (photo left; click to enlarge; source #1), is now acknowledged by most to be a hoax.
The Flemish or German “Bicycle Window,” which was installed in Stoke Poges church in the 16th or 17th Click photo to enlargecentury (photo right; click to enlarge; source #2), shows an angel on a device that some argue looks like a prototype hobbyhorse. It is far more likely to be a one-wheeled contraption that was often associated with cherubims and seraphims in mediaeval iconography.
There is also the risk that, unless there is credible documentary evidence, some early innovations are actually subsequent bicycle priority claims from the 1890s or later and are thus false stepping stones that do not convey an accurate history.
More here www.jimlangley.net/ride/bicyclehistorywh.html
A Quick History of Bicycles
The Walking Machine
In 1817 Baron von Drais invented a walking machine that would help him get around the royal gardens faster: two same-size in-line wheels, the front one steerable, mounted in a frame which you straddled. The device was propelled by pushing your feet against the ground, thus rolling yourself and the device forward in a sort of gliding walk. The machine became known as the Draisienne or hobby horse. It was made entirely of wood. This enjoyed a short lived popularity as a fad, not being practical for transportation in any other place than a well maintained pathway such as in a park or garden.
More at www.pedalinghistory.com/PHhistory.html
Of course history is always open to controversy.
To add to the confusion, in recent years several early icons of bicycle history have been relegated to the hopper of popular myth. Most, if not all, alleged developments before the granting of the Von Drais patent in 1818 are highly conjectural.
Click photo to enlarge
For example, the drawing of a “bicycle” (circa 1493) purported to be by Giacomo Caprotti, a pupil of Leonardo da Vinci (photo left; click to enlarge; source #1), is now acknowledged by most to be a hoax.
The Flemish or German “Bicycle Window,” which was installed in Stoke Poges church in the 16th or 17th Click photo to enlargecentury (photo right; click to enlarge; source #2), shows an angel on a device that some argue looks like a prototype hobbyhorse. It is far more likely to be a one-wheeled contraption that was often associated with cherubims and seraphims in mediaeval iconography.
There is also the risk that, unless there is credible documentary evidence, some early innovations are actually subsequent bicycle priority claims from the 1890s or later and are thus false stepping stones that do not convey an accurate history.
More here www.jimlangley.net/ride/bicyclehistorywh.html