Who invented the draisine, the 1817 ancestor of the modern bicycle?

Karl Drais invented the draisine, the 1817 ancestor of the modern bicycle.

The draisine was a two-wheeled machine propelled by pushing the feet against the ground. It had no pedals, but its steerable front wheel allowed riders to balance while moving faster than walking.

Drais demonstrated the machine in Mannheim, in the Grand Duchy of Baden, and later received a patent in 1818. It became known in English as the velocipede or hobby horse. The design appeared during a period when horse shortages and expensive feed made alternatives attractive.

Later inventors added pedals, cranks, and improved frames, eventually producing bicycles that could be ridden without touching the ground. Kirkpatrick Macmillan and Pierre Lallement are associated with later pedal-driven developments, while John Kemp Starley helped popularize the safety bicycle. Those contributions do not change Drais’s place as the draisine’s inventor.