Fact #61020
When:
Short story:
first
recorded account of a bicycle ride describes a journey from
Mannheim, Germany, Europe, undertaken on this day by Baron Karl Von
Drais on his recently invented Laufmaschine [running machine]. Von
Drais covered 13 km (eight miles) in less than an hour. There are
earlier sketches and attempts at making a functioning bicycle, but
Von Drais has gone down in history as inventor of the first
practical bike. The bicycle, after many improvements and
adaptations, would revolutionise personal transportation and has
been credited by some as one of the principal factors enabling the emancipation of women. The
bicycle will also provide inspiration
for many songs, including Daisy Bell [A Bicycle
Built For Two] by Henry Dacre [1892], Bike by Pink Floyd
[1967], My White Bicycle by Tomorrow [1967], The Pushbike Song by
The Mixtures [1971] and Bicycle Race by Queen [1978]. (1817)
The Tweet this Fact