|
Thomas McCall (inventor)
Thomas McCall (1834–1904) was a Scottish cartwright. Biography McCall was born in Penpont, he came to Kilmarnock at age 20, where he lived until his death (obituary 1904). He built, in 1869, two versions of a two-wheeled velocipede with levers and rods tossing a crank on the rear wheel (''English Mechanic'' 5/14/1869 and 6/11/1869). This was a reaction to the French velocipedes, of the mid-1860s, with their front-wheel pedal cranks. In fact, this rear-wheel idea occupied seven more inventors in that year (Lessing 1991). When in the 1880s a rich corn-trader named James Johnston started a campaign to attribute the "first true" bicycle to his uncle Kirkpatrick MacMillan and his native country of Dumfries in general, he attributed the McCall designs to MacMillan and dated them as of 1839. Skeptics allege that the reason McCall built a replica of his machines to be exhibited as MacMillan's at the 1896 Stanley Show, at the behest of Johnston, can only be a need of money (Clay ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dumfries
Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the Anglo-Scottish border and just away from Cumbria by air. Dumfries is the county town of the historic county of Dumfriesshire. Before becoming King of Scots, Robert the Bruce killed his rival the Red Comyn at Greyfriars Kirk in the town on 10 February 1306. The Young Pretender had his headquarters here during a 3-day sojourn in Dumfries towards the end of 1745. During the Second World War, the bulk of the Norwegian Army during their years in exile in Britain consisted of a brigade in Dumfries. Dumfries is nicknamed ''Queen of the South''. This is also the name of the town's professional football club. People from Dumfries are known colloquially in Scots language as ''Doonhamers''. Toponymy There are a number of theories on the etymo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1904 Deaths
Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music * 19 (band), a Japanese pop music duo Albums * ''19'' (Adele album), 2008 * ''19'', a 2003 album by Alsou * ''19'', a 2006 album by Evan Yo * ''19'', a 2018 album by MHD * ''19'', one half of the double album ''63/19'' by Kool A.D. * ''Number Nineteen'', a 1971 album by American jazz pianist Mal Waldron * ''XIX'' (EP), a 2019 EP by 1the9 Songs * "19" (song), a 1985 song by British musician Paul Hardcastle. * "Nineteen", a song by Bad4Good from the 1992 album '' Refugee'' * "Nineteen", a song by Karma to Burn from the 2001 album ''Almost Heathen''. * "Nineteen" (song), a 2007 song by American singer Billy Ray Cyrus. * "Nineteen", a song by Tegan and Sara from the 2007 album '' The Con''. * "XIX" (song), a 2014 song by Slipknot. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1834 Births
Events January–March * January – The Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad is chartered in Wilmington, North Carolina. * January 1 – Zollverein (Germany): Customs charges are abolished at borders within its member states. * January 3 – The government of Mexico imprisons Stephen F. Austin in Mexico City. * February 13 – Robert Owen organizes the Grand National Consolidated Trades Union in the United Kingdom. * March 6 – York, Upper Canada, is incorporated as Toronto. * March 11 – The United States Survey of the Coast is transferred to the Department of the Navy. * March 14 – John Herschel discovers the open cluster of stars now known as NGC 3603, observing from the Cape of Good Hope. * March 28 – Andrew Jackson is censured by the United States Congress (expunged in 1837). April–June * April 10 – The LaLaurie mansion in New Orleans burns, and Madame Marie Delphine LaLaurie flees to France. * April 14 – The Whig Party is officially named by Unit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scottish Inventors
Scottish inventions and discoveries are objects, processes or techniques either partially or entirely invented, innovated, or discovered by a person born in or descended from Scotland. In some cases, an invention's Scottishness is determined by the fact that it came into existence in Scotland (e.g., animal cloning), by non-Scots working in the country. Often, things that are discovered for the first time are also called "inventions" and in many cases there is no clear line between the two. The Scots take enormous pride in the history of Scottish invention and discovery. There are many books devoted solely to the subject, as well as scores of websites listing Scottish inventions and discoveries with varying degrees of science. Even before the Industrial Revolution, Scots have been at the forefront of innovation and discovery across a wide range of spheres. Some of the most significant products of Scottish ingenuity include James Watt's steam engine, improving on that of Thomas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Treadle Bicycle
A treadle bicycle is a bicycle powered by a treadle instead of the more common crank. Treadles were one of the mechanisms inventors tried in order to position the pedals away from the drive wheel hub before the development of the bicycle chain or instead of it. Treadles have also been used to drive tricycles and quadracycles. History Treadles were used before the advent of highwheelers on Thomas McCall's velocipede, on highwheelers themselves in an attempt to address safety issues, on alternative configurations of highwheelers, and on the first device called a safety bicycle by British engineer Henry J. Lawson in 1876. Some inventors even combined treadles and chains on the same bicycle. Gallery File:Jaray-Rad mit Schwingpedalen - Verkehrszentrum.JPG, A treadle bicycle from 1925 Image:Mccallvelos.jpg, McCall's first (top) and improved velocipede of 1869, later predated to 1839 and attributed to MacMillan File:1880velocipede.jpg, Velocipede from 1880 File:1888 Geared Facile Bicyc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
History Of The Bicycle
Vehicles that have two wheels and require balancing by the rider date back to the early 19th century. The first means of transport making use of two wheels arranged consecutively, and thus the archetype of the bicycle, was the German ''draisine'' dating back to 1817. The term '' bicycle'' was coined in France in the 1860s, and the descriptive title " penny farthing", used to describe an " ordinary bicycle", is a 19th-century term. Earliest unverified bicycle There are several early, but unverified claims for the invention of the bicycle. A sketch from around 1500 AD is attributed to Gian Giacomo Caprotti, a pupil of Leonardo da Vinci, but it was described by Hans-Erhard Lessing in 1998 as a purposeful fraud, a description now generally accepted.Lessing, Hans-Erhard: "The evidence against Leonardo's bicycle", ''Cycle History'' 8, San Francisco 1998, pp. 49–56 However, the authenticity of the bicycle sketch is still vigorously maintained by followers of Prof. Augusto Marinoni, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stanley Cycle Show
The Stanley Cycle Show or Stanley Show was an exhibition of bicycles and tricycles first mounted by the Stanley Cycling Club in 1878 at The Athenaeum in London's Camden Road. Britain's first series production cars were displayed at this show in November 1896. The 34th and last exhibition was held in the Royal Agricultural Hall, Islington in November 1910. It was supplanted by the 1911 Olympia Motor Cycle Show and, a few weeks before that, Olympia's International Motor Exhibition. Stanley Show Committee In its first decade it was organised by the Stanley Cycling Club and held at the Royal Aquarium, Westminster specially for "the votaries of wheeling". From the 1886 exhibition it was arranged not by the Stanley Club but by a committee of manufacturers and Stanley Club members. This 1886 exhibition displayed a strong emphasis on ''dwarf'' or safety bicycles. There were signs that tandems were replacing the wider and more unwieldy sociables. 1888's display included a prominent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bicycle
A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. Bicycles were introduced in the 19th century in Europe. By the early 21st century, more than 1 billion were in existence. These numbers far exceed the number of cars, both in total and ranked by the number of individual models produced. They are the principal means of transportation in many regions. They also provide a popular form of recreation, and have been adapted for use as children's toys, general fitness, military and police applications, courier services, bicycle racing, and bicycle stunts. The basic shape and configuration of a typical upright or "safety bicycle", has changed little since the first chain-driven model was developed around 1885. However, many details have been improved, especially since the advent of modern ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Velocipedes
A velocipede () is a human-powered land vehicle with one or more wheels. The most common type of velocipede today is the bicycle. The term was probably first coined by Karl von Drais in French as ''vélocipède'' for the French translation of his advertising leaflet for his version of the ''Laufmaschine'', also now called a 'dandy horse', which he had developed in 1817. It is ultimately derived from the Latin ''velox'', ''veloc-'' 'swift' + ''pes'', ''ped-'' 'foot'.''Oxford Dictionary of English'', 'velocipede' The term 'velocipede' is today mainly used as a collective term for the different forerunners of the monowheel, the unicycle, the bicycle, the dicycle, the tricycle and the quadracycle developed between 1817 and 1880. It refers especially to the forerunner of the modern bicycle that was propelled, like a modern tricycle, by cranks, i.e. pedals, attached to the front axle before the invention of geared chains and belt and shaft drives powering the rear. History Among ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
