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The first step in creating the bicycle took place around 3500 B.C.E. in the Middle East. Historians believe that people there took potter’s wheels, put them on carts, and invented the wheeled vehicle.
Technology moved slowly for the next 53 centuries. In time, spoked wheels – which are lighter and more aerodynamic than solid wheels – became available, as did gears and stronger, lighter metals.
Then, in 1817, German Baron Karl von Drais de Sauerbronn created a “walking machine,” or “hobbyhorse,” for getting around the royal gardens. It had no pedals, and the rider sat astride it, pushing it along with his feet as he walked. This invention is considered the first bicycle-like device.
