When Was the Bicycle Invented?
Kirkpatrick MacMillan developed the first rear-wheel driven safety bicycle in 1842, which allowed the rider to power the bicycle by means of pedals attached to levers and then attached to the rear wheel. http://www.webscot.co.uk/greatscots/kirk… Working at his smithy, he completed his new machine in around 1839. This first pedal bicycle was propelled by a horizontal reciprocating movement of the rider’s feet on the pedals. This movement was transmitted to cranks on the rear wheel by connecting rods; the machine was extremely heavy http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_fi… The first mechanically-propelled 2-wheel vehicle was believed to have been built by Kirkpatrick MacMillan, a Scottish blacksmith, in 1839. A nephew later claimed that his uncle developed a rear-wheel drive design using mid m
Although another bicycle may have been invented earlier, the first bicycles in the world that we know about were built late in the 18th century. These early bikes, called hobby horses, consisted of two wheels connected by a curved bar. Since these bikes had no pedals, riders had to move their bikes by pushing along the ground wi
Although there were many earlier bicycle-like inventions, the bicycle as we know it today was developed in 1885 as the “safety bicycle.” It was produced in Coventry, England, by the machinist James Starley (1830–1881) and improved in 1888 by the Scotsman John Dunlop (1840–?) who invented the pneumatic (air-filled tire). The relative ease and safety of these new bicycles made them so popular that by 1900 more than 10,000,000 Americans owned bicycles. Predecessors to the modern bicycle included the “dandy horse,” which was invented in 1816 by German baron Karl Friedrich Freiherr von Drais de Sauerbronn (1785–1851). His device, also known as a “draisenne,” was a two-wheeled vehicle moved by the thrust of the rider’s feet upon the ground. In 1839 Scotsman Kirkpatrick Macmillan (1813–1878) added pedals and mechanical propulsion to this vehicle, making it easier to ride. His…
