Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Kirkpatrick MacMillan
Kirkpatrick MacMillan (1818 – 23 January 1878) was a Scottish blacksmith who invented the rear-wheel driven bicycle.
He completed construction of his pedal driven bicycle in 1839. It had iron-rimmed wooden wheels, a steerable 30 inch wheel in the front and a 40 inch wheel in the rear which was connected to pedals via connecting rods. The entire machine weighed 57lb. In 1842 he rode this machine from his home in Keir , Dumfriesshire to Glasgow a distance of 68 miles. En route he was fined 5 shillings for speeding (8mph) and knocking down a girl who ran into the road.
He never patented his invention, and it was widely copied. A copy of the machine is on exhibit at the Science Museum, London, England.
A plaque on his smithy home reads "He builded better than he knew." (see http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~dfsgal/Keir/kr-old-5.htm for an image)
External links
- BBC Biography
- http://www.webscot.co.uk/greatscots/kirkpatrickmacmillan.htm
- [Guinness World Record, Earliest Bicycle]
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