Today in History: 1817 The first predecessor of the bicycle is demonstrated
In 1817 German inventor Karl Drais invented the Laufmaschine (“running machine”), later called the velocipede, draisine (English) or “draisienne” (French), or nick-named the “dandy horse”. This incorporated the two-wheeler principle that is basic to the bicycle and motorcycle and represented the beginning of mechanized personal transportation. Drais took his first recorded ride on the Laufmachine from Mannheim to Rheinau, now a suburb of Mannheim on June 12, 1817.
"The dandy-horse was a two-wheeled vehicle, with both wheels in-line, propelled by the rider pushing along the ground with the feet as in regular walking or running. The front wheel and handlebar assembly was pivoted to allow steering.
"Several manufacturers in France and England made their own dandy-horses during its brief popularity in the summer of 1819 – most notably, Denis Johnson of London, who used an elegantly curved wooden frame which allowed the use of larger wheels. Riders preferred to operate their vehicles on the smooth pavements instead of the rough roads, but their interactions with pedestrians caused many municipalities to enact laws prohibiting their use. A further drawback of this device was that it had to be made to measure, manufactured to conform with the height and the stride of its rider, as none of its manufacturers are known to have built an adjustable version. After its brief moment in the limelight, the dandy-horse quickly faded into oblivion.
“However, in the 1860s in France, the vélocipède bicycle was created by attaching rotary cranks and pedals to the front-wheel hub of a dandy-horse”
Read more here: Karl Drais Invents the Two-Wheeled Bicycle- the First Personalized Mechanical Transport : History of Information
Also on this day:
1184 BC Trojan War: Troy is sacked and burned, according to calculations by Eratosthenes
631 Emperor Taizong of Tang of China, sends envoys to the Xueyantuo bearing gold and silk for the release of Chinese prisoners captured during transition from Sui to Tang from northern frontier; succeeds in freeing 80,000
738 Smoke Monkey ascends to the throne of the Maya city of Copán, after the capture and killing of his predecessor 18 Rabbit by rival city Quirigua
758 Diplomatic dispute at Tang Chinese capital Chang’an when Abbasid Arabs and Uyghur Turks both arrive to offer tribute. Settlement reached when both enter at same time through two different gates.
1644 Florentine scientist Evangelista Torricelli describes his invention of the mercury barometer in 1643 in a letter to Michelangelo Ricci
1864 Battle of Trevilian Station, the bloodiest and largest all-cavalry battle of the American Civil War, begins in Louisa County, Virginia
1892 The Limelight Department, one of the world’s first film studios, is officially established in Melbourne, Australia
1895 Charles Duryea patents a gasoline-driven automobile
1927 Charles Lindbergh is awarded the 1st Distinguished Flying Cross
1935 Inventor Edwin Armstrong gives the first public demonstration of FM broadcasting in the United States, at Alpine, New Jersey
1939 British ruler King George VI and Queen Elizabeth taste their first “hot dogs” at a party at FDR’s Hyde Park residence during their US visit
1940 Italy declares war on Allies
1955 More than 80 people die in the Le Mans car race disaster
1959 Postmaster General bans D. H. Lawrence’s book ‘Lady Chatterley’s Lover’ as obscene; overruled by US Court of Appeals in March of 1960
1959 Saunders-Roe SR.N1, the first practical hovercraft, performs its first public flight
1963 Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức immolates himself at a Saigon intersection, creating one of the Vietnam War’s most iconic images
1963 US President JFK says segregation is morally wrong and that it is “time to act”
1979 Chuck Berry pleads guilty to income tax evasion, sentenced to 4 months
1991 Microsoft releases MS DOS 5.0
1993 “Jurassic Park”, directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Sam Neill and Jeff Goldblum opens, sets box office weekend record of $502 million
2001 Saudi Arabia seizes ownership, effective June 7, of the 1.6-million-barrels-per-day IPSA pipeline that had carried Iraqi crude oil to the Saudi Red Sea port of Mu’jiz prior to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait
2004 Cassini-Huygens makes its closest flyby of Phoebe
2010 Africa hosts the FIFA World Cup for the first time
2019 “The New York Times” reveals an estimated 500,000 song titles, including masters of Chuck Berry, Louis Armstrong, and Ella Fitzgerald, lost in 2008 warehouse fire on Universal backlot in Los Angeles
2021 US lobsterman survives being swallowed by a humpback whale off the coast of Provincetown, Massachusetts
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1959 Hugh Laurie - English actor (A bit of Fry and Laurie, House), born in Oxford, England
1933 Gene Wilder - American actor, (Blazing Saddles; Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory; Silver Streak; Young Frankenstein), born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (d. 2016)
1919 Richard Todd - Irish-born British actor (The Dam Busters, The Longest Day), born in Dublin (d. 2009)
1910 Jacques Cousteau - French oceanic explorer (Calypso), born in Saint-André-de-Cubzac, Gironde, France (d. 1997)
1776 John Constable - English landscape painter (Hay Wain), born in East Bergholt, Suffolk, England (d. 1837)
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1993 Bernard Bresslaw - English comedian (Carry On team), dies of a heart attack at 59
1979 John Wayne - American actor (Green Berets, True Grit), dies of stomach cancer at 72
1963 Thích Quảng Đức - Buddhist monk, immolates himself on a street in Saigon at the age of 65-66
1937 R. J. [Reginald Joseph] Mitchell - British aircraft designer (Supermarine Spitfire), dies of cancer at 42
1698 Balthasar Bekker - Dutch theologist (helped end persecution of witches), dies at 64
Holidays on this day
Corn on the Cob Day
Cousteau Day
Dirty Book Day
Kamehameha Day - Public Holiday in the State of Hawaii (June 11th except when it falls on the weekend)
National Cotton Candy Day - (was December 7)
National German Chocolate Cake Day
National Making Life Beautiful Day
Ryan Moran Day (First Full Moon in June)
The Funnies:
Interesting (not necessarily extinct) animal of the day:
Neanderthals were an extinct relative of modern humans once found across Europe, extending into Central and Southwest Asia.
They are considered either a distinct species, or a subspecies of Homo sapiens called Homo sapiens neanderthalensis, with a more robust anatomy and shorter stature that generally implies greater strength and physical resilience.
While they technically possessed a slightly larger brain volume than modern humans, their mix of social and cognitive abilities has been debated over the years, with disputed examples of art, clothing, and even funerary customs offered as evidence of culture.
Early depictions of Neanderthals were based off a single skeleton unearthed at the beginning of the 1900s near La Chapelle-aux-Saints, France, painted a cliche picture of a slouching, brutish human.
Subsequent research on not only this specimen, but others, has long since put to rest the notion that these relatives had a posture significantly different to ours.
Studies of their genes raised the possibility that, like modern humans, Neanderthals could have had varied pigmentation that included red hair colourations and fair skin.
Analysis of ancient teeth suggests our mutual ancestors diverged at least 800,000 years ago, with genetic analysis comparing their DNA with ours suggesting there was occasional mixing of our genes over the millennia.
It’s hard to know exactly what legacy Neanderthals left in our own adaptations, with studies debating the extent of influence their genes have had. Possibilities include bestowing us with improved immune systems, and subtle variations to our skull shape.
The last populations of Neanderthals are thought to have died out roughly 40,000 years ago, several thousand years or so after a wave of modern humans migrated deeper into Europe. There are numerous hypotheses attempting to explain their disappearance as a consequence of increased competition, inbreeding, introduced diseases, or climate change.
Read more: Who Are The Neanderthals? : ScienceAlert
Quote of the Day:
“He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.”
Albert Einstein
Video of the Day:
Happy birthday to Frank Beard (1949):
And to Rob B [Birch] (1962):
And to Steven Drozd (1969):
Comic of the Day:
Credit: #481; In which Linda optimizates – Wondermark
Inspirobot Always Controversial, Occasionally Inspirational Quote of the Day:
Read @Repairatrooper’s curve balled Spark! from yesterday here: https://community.spiceworks.com/t/spark-pro-series-june-10th-2025
Don’t forget to leave some spice right here ↓
