Starting Line: 1800-1840

Welcome friends to years 1800-1840 of Starting Line.

1817: The German-born Baron Karl Friedrich Drais von Sauerbronn designed wooden framed two wheeled machine. He called it the "draisine" in honor of himself. It spawned many copy cat machines called "dandy-horses" or "swift walkers." These were really not bicycles, because they were powered by scooting your feet on the ground.

1819: A patent for the draisine is filed in Great Britain by Denis Johnson. Soon draisines begin appearing in the streets of England and North America.

1839: A Scottish Blacksmith named Kirkland Macmillan added pedals to the draisine, thus producing the first true "human-powered" bicycle.

1800-1840: Return to Starting Line Home