bicycle

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bicycle Two-wheeled vehicle propelled by a rider. The earliest design (a hobbyhorse-type bicycle) dates from c.1790. In 1816 German engineer Karl Drais von Sauerbronn invented a steerable bicycle. Scottish blacksmith Kirkpatrick Macmillan is usually credited with the invention of the first pedal-operated bicycle in 1839. In c.1861, French engineers Pierre and Ernest Michaux demonstrated their ‘boneshaker’ velocipede, with pedals attached to the front wheel. In 1871 James Starley produced his ‘penny-farthing’ bicycle. In 1873 J. H. Lawson invented the chain drive, which John Starley incorporated into his modern safety bicycle with tangential-spoked wheels in 1885. See also cycling

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